The recent cold snap could cause the strawberry crop to be pushed back a couple of weeks. There are nine to 12 commercial growers in Tangipahoa Parish. Whitney Wallace from the LSU Ag Center says those farmers took extra precautions during the brutally cold weather and expects the crop should come through just fine.
With a decline in production and available strawberries, Wallace says there might be an increase in prices at the market, but any increase will be short lived. Many of the blossoms on the plants that weren’t protected will have to regrow again, which is a 21 day process. She says after that, prices will stabilize.
Wallace says the big event of the year for Tangipahoa Parish will go on as usual. She says there should be plenty of warm weather between now and mid-April for the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival.
It’s estimated strawberry production in Louisiana is valued at 17-million-dollars.