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Weeks of gloomy, wet weather across Saskatchewan have slowed down one of the province’s signature summer crops.
The Berry Barn, located southwest of Saskatoon, says its Saskatoon berries are running about seven to 10 days behind schedule after a spring and early summer marked by rain, humidity and a lack of sunshine.
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Grant Erlandson, co-owner of The Berry Barn, said the berries would normally be much further along by early July.
“Yeah, it’s definitely slowed us down,” Erlandson said. “We’re probably looking seven to 10 days behind, and if we don’t get sun here, it might be longer.”
Erlandson said the farm’s Saskatoon berries would typically be turning purple and moving into the ripe stage by now. This year, he said, the crop is uneven.
“Right about now, they would all be getting pretty much purple into the riper stage,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got the odd one in the purple stage, we’ve got some in the red stage. It’s all over the map.”
He said that means the season likely will not have the same clean, even start growers hope for.
“It’s not going to be a nice even crop this year, I don’t think,” he said.
The Berry Barn grows about 18 acres of Saskatoon berries and usually harvests between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds in a season. Erlandson said last year was a bumper crop, with some berries left in the bushes because there was not enough storage space.
This year, he expects the harvest to be on the lower end of the usual range.
“I’m thinking we’ll be on the lower end this year of that 15 to 20,000,” he said.
According to Erlandson, the problem has not just been rain. The biggest issue has been the long stretch of cloud cover.
“It’s basically brought them to a standstill, almost,” he said. “They don’t develop very fast with the rain and whatnot.”
He said Saskatoon berries tend to prefer hot, dry weather.
“They’re a drought berry, so they like it hot and dry and ripen fast,” he said.
If the damp weather continues, Erlandson said disease could become more of a concern because of the humidity and excess moisture.
Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Saskatoon forecast Sunday called for mainly sunny conditions and a high of 25 C, with sunny or clearing conditions expected early in the week.
That is exactly the kind of weather Erlandson is hoping for.
“I’m hoping for about 14 days of the same kind of weather as we got today warm, sunny, and maybe a little more breeze,” he said. “That’s what would be ideal, in that 25 to 30 range.”
He said customers have already been asking when they can start picking.
“There’s a lot of people that are pretty faithful, and come the first part of July here, they’re ready to go,” he said. “The berries aren’t ready, but the public is ready to go.”
Erlandson said he has not seen many years quite like this one.
“In all my years of doing this, I haven’t seen a year like this yet,” he said. “Maybe 25 years ago, maybe, but I’ve never seen one where we’ve had so many consistent days without sunshine.”
The farm’s greenhouse strawberries have also been affected. Erlandson said they had been producing steadily until last week, when the lack of sun slowed them down.
“They’re looking sad without sunshine,” he said. “We were picking pretty steady up until last week, and then they just shut down, waiting to get some.”
He said raspberries appear to be closer to schedule, with the crop usually ready around the second or third week of July.
For now, Erlandson said people hoping to pick Saskatoon berries will need to wait a little longer.
“I’m thinking 10 days at least,” he said. “That’s where we’re going to be at before we even start to pick.”
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