By Clint Thompson
The extended dry conditions before this past weekend across various parts of Georgia benefited the state’s strawberry producers. The less rain and wet conditions meant fewer instances of diseases being a factor, says Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties.
“If it gets dry, they can water with drip. They don’t want to spend the money for it. But they’d rather it do that than having to spray a fungicide,” Cook said. “We also have limited numbers of yearly applications, season-long applications, so the more we don’t have to spray in the winter and fall, the better off we are in the spring when we really need disease control to actually protect the fruit.”
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, all of Georgia, except for the southeast part of the state and a small fraction in the northeast part, are either abnormally dry or moderately dry.
The prolonged dry spell also helped growers in their fight against Neopestalotiopsis Fruit Rot, though, Cook said one site has experienced it this year. But the disease came from the nursery, and the producer has since replanted.
“You would think that if you could reduce the heavy downpours and a lot of rain, it should slow it down,” Cook said.