HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — This year has been an especially tough test for those who make their living off the land.
“My whole life since I was a little boy, I knew that I wanted to be a farmer,” said Matt Parke, a fourth-generation farmer.
Straight off Highway 92 in Dover is where you’ll find Berry Sweet Acres. The land and field are a testament to a year’s worth of work.
“The best way to describe farming is it's not a job; It's a lifestyle,” said Parke.
Parke is a fourth-generation farmer from the famous Parkesdale Family, Plant City royalty. But mother nature doesn’t care about your last name. And this year has been a tough test for every strawberry farmer.
“The harvest has been a little bit behind. This season has been a Niño season for us,” explained Parke.
“I get the sense that every year is sort of a puzzle that farmers have to figure out with the conditions and what ends up happening?” asked ABC Action News anchor Paul LaGrone.
Parke said “Our market depends on supply and demand. So when it heats up and all this starts picking, our market is going to fall off. A lot of us will have to stop picking because it'd be unfeasible to pick with a market where you're picking cost is less than your selling costs.”
But despite the less-than-ideal conditions, consumers can taste a difference. The strawberries are as sweet as ever.
“We know this is the perfect time of year to get the biggest and the freshest berries. So, they always have a great product here,” said one local resident.
It's the perfect time because Matt decided to let the public in behind the curtains of the strawberry business. Berry Sweet Acres is a one of a kind you pick, not just in season, but all year round from planting to picking.
“If you’d would have said to me five years ago hey, you're going to let people on your farm to pick. I would have said negative,” explained Parke.
LaGrone asked “Why?”
Parke replied “Just for the liability purposes. And not only that, you know, I'm a commercial grower, Parkesdale is our family farm. And I commercially pick all my fruit. You know; me my wife would open up at the end of the season when we're done commercially picking this field here and we'd do it out of a tent. And we liked the communication of the people and seeing all the kids run around and have a great time. And me talking to the people and explaining to them how we pick and how things happen and the kids just like wow, you know, they get the understanding that not everything comes from the store.”
“Well, that sounds like you're selling more than just berries,” said LaGrone.
“Were giving knowledge to the younger generation to understand what farming is,” explained Parke.
And the next generation of farmers might be out right now picking their very own strawberries.
