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Frost, drought cause issues for Metro Detroit strawberry farmers

By and FOX 2 Staff
Published  June 16, 2023 6:39pm EDT
Food and Drink
FOX 2 Detroit

Westview Orchards strawberries struggle after recent weather

Frost and a drought are to blame for a struggling strawberry harvest at Washington Township's Westview Orchards.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - The weather in Metro Detroit has caused problems for farmers whose crops are now struggling.

"It's really always kind of like families coming back to the farm. To me that kind of signals summer," Katrina Roy said.

Roy's family has owned Westview Orchards in Washington Township for more than 200 years.

"These wonderful hills are perfect, ideal for fruit," she said. "My great great great grandfather picked the perfect spot."

And this time of year you can usually find families and field trips picking strawberries in their fields, but not this year. First, a frost, followed by a drought caused issues.

"Strawberries love those bright sunny days and warm nights to just really ripen," Roy said. "All fruit growers, vegetable growers we all need one inch of natural rainfall every week. What happens is when that rain comes down it's bringing nitrogen, other nutrients.

It's all monitored here at their on-site weather station - a sophisticated system designed to get the crops everything they need. But even with irrigation systems, there's no substitute for rain.

"We're trying to supplement and make up for Mother Nature. It's hard to catch up when she hits those 80-90 degree days, was a little bit tough so that drought didn't help the strawberries mature and be ready the way they normally are around the 8th of June," Roy said. "Probably, our crop size is down to a 50% loss."

If you plan to visit Westview right now, it is recommended that you call ahead to check if you can do U-pick.

"Everything else is just coming along beautifully. It looks like a great crop for cherries," Roy said.

They might be ready by the end of June, then come raspberries and apples. Sunflower season is in August, and pumpkins come after that.

"We have a great crop and I think the whole state's really going to have an excellent crop, excellent quality from here on in. It's just Mother Nature gave us a little curveball here this spring, that's all," Roy said.