WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — As we head into a hot holiday weekend, Minnesota's climatologist says June will wrap up as the second driest ever.
June is usually the wettest month of the year.
"We need to be aware that water isn’t a bottomless pit and try to conserve water," said Minnesota State Climatologist Luigi Romolo. "Minnesota has been familiar with drought, but we've managed to get out of it."
Drought can impact many things and this year, strawberry farms are taking a huge hit during what is usually peak picking season.
Several farms are closing their u-pick options, including Pine Tree Apple Orchard, which shut down for the first time in 41 years.
"Mother Nature is dealing a tough hand to a lot of people," said Bill Jacobson, one of six siblings who run and manage the orchard in White Bear Lake.
It started as an apple orchard in 1950, but the family started harvesting strawberries in 1983. The heat is hitting the crop especially hard this year.
"Hot weather and drought over the last couple years made the plants very susceptible to pathogens in the soil that take advantage of a weakened plant," said Jacobson. "I hate to get beat and this is obviously a kick in the pants."
Strawberry plants are picky and have a short growing season and a shallow root system. Add in a record dry spell and disease, called black root rot, and it has experts combing Jacobson's acres for answers. For now, 15 of those acres are spoiled.
"This has got to be one of the most challenging and the problem is you get one shot a year," said Jacobson. "But when it comes down to it, I'm the one responsible for the berries on our farm."
There are still five other acres, planted just last year, that may be strong enough to survive. Whatever berries are harvested will be used to make the farm's other popular products.
"That's where our pickers are scrounging around, trying to find a few to keep the bakery going and it's rollovers and strawberry donuts and stuff like that in supply," said Jacobson.
A summertime treat in short supply has customers buying what they can and many shelves are already empty. But they're also giving grace to the hard workers, hopeful the fruit makes a comeback.
"They feel for us," said Jacobson about his customers. "We're poor quitters. Most farmers are poor quitters, so we'll keep at it, keep trying to figure it out."
Despite the disappointing end to the strawberry season, the Jacobson's are now looking ahead to the apple season which starts mid-August.
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