PLANT CITY, Fla. — The journey for local strawberry farmers to get to the harvest is often a long, hard road.
This year, Hurricane Milton made that journey all the more uncertain—especially for farmers like Matt Parke, a fourth-generation farmer from the famous Parkesdale Family.
ABC Action News Anchor Paul LaGrone recently spoke with Parke out at Berry Sweet Acres, which sits off Highway 92 between Dover and Plant City.
“Well, this [season] brought a real set of challenges. We had the hurricane,” said Parke.
Parke lost 30% of his crop as Hurricane Milton hit right in the prime of planting season.
“The first morning, right after the hurricane had passed, and we came out and this field was underwater all the way up to the highway,” he said.
There was 22 inches of rain in just 24 hours.
“Was there a moment where you thought, 'Am I going to be able to plant this year?' Did you think that that was possible?” asked LaGrone.
“We thought it was the apocalypse for our farm. We had water in places we never, ever thought we could have water standing. We had water coming over top of hills because it was trying to find the easiest way to get out of an area,” said Parke. "I've seen waterfalls coming over hills in some of my fields. And I was just like, how's that even possible? You didn't know what to do. You're like, we can't call it quits. We're too much invested. So, we can't just sit this year out. We had to pull it together.”
“Sounds like it was a lot of work up front to get to the point that you are here today to have this harvest,” said LaGrone.
“It was just a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” responded Parke.
Ironically, the hurricane rushed planting season and ended up delivering an even sweeter berry.
“It will hold the quality better, because the younger the plant, the better the quality is going to be of the fruit,” explained Parke.
“We have dealt in Florida with these hurricanes. It does seem like, you know, compared to say, when we were growing up in the 80s and 90s, they were kind of far and few between. They do seem to be coming at an increased frequency. What do you think about when you look down the road, how do you plan around that? Can you plan around that?” asked LaGrone
“My dad said, in the 70s it was warmer in the 70s than it was in the 80s, than it was in the 90s. The 80s and 90s, really cold. And he said, you can just see the weather change. He said, from the time they moved here in '56, he said it's constantly changing. Sometimes some decades will be warmer, some decades will be colder, and some decades bring more hurricanes. Some don't. And he said it was always just changing. And that's how I see it. You know, we're just going to have to constantly evolve,” said Parke.
But one thing always remains constant is that this community, these people, these farmers are there for each other from hurricane to harvest.
“We have always communicated with the neighbor. You know, if there's something, if you ever need help, somebody will help you,” explained Parke. "In the Florida strawberry community, that's unique, because in other regions that grow strawberries in the United States, it’s different. It's a big corporate area, and people are not there to help you. They're there just to keep them moving forward, and if they can put you behind that's better for them, right. Here, we're not like that"
Parke said since they had to rush their planting season, they were not able to produce as many berries. So, while the berries are sweeter because they came from younger plants, their yield is down. He is just looking to break even this year.
Parke also said other farmers here are in the same position.
