HOWARD, Wis. — Small groups and individuals hunched in the strawberry fields of Sunny Hill Farm in Howard near Green Bay late Tuesday morning.
They were seeking their crop of fresh strawberries. Pick-your-own started late last week, offering customers their choice of bright red strawberries.
“We had a lot of berries ripen up with that inch of rain we got yesterday then this high heat,” said Logan Bruntz who operates the farm with his family. “The past few nights have been 70 degrees and that’s really what ripens things up pretty quick.”
Last year was about as dry as he’d seen the fields. It’s a different story so far this year.
“We’ve had enough rain. We’ve probably done 90% less irrigation this year. That’s been a huge relief for us,” he said. “It’s pretty stressful having to worry about the strawberries and the corn coming later. When we can get an inch of rain here and there, it’s great.”
Wisconsin is listed as largely drought free on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Only a few spots in northern and central part of the state are rated as abnormally dry.
Missy Ramel of New Franken took advantage of a dry—but hot—day to pick a few buckets of strawberries with her son, Trent.
“This is our first time coming out and picking. Their strawberries are everywhere,” she said. “It’s beautiful and really easy to pick.”
Ramel expects to return.
“Probably in a week our two,” she said with a laugh. “As soon as these are gone.”
Bruntz said there are another two to three weeks of picking ahead. With tempertures expected to subside a little in the coming days, he isn't concerned about the picking season being significanly shortened.
Bruntz said customers are adjusting to the heat. Many are choosing to pick in the morning when it's cooler.
“Our customers are great. Some of them will say, ‘We’ve watched you guys grow up.’ It’s really cool to hear that and know that they’ve been coming all these years,” he said. “Most of the have been coming longer than I’ve been alive.”