Florida Strawberry Members

Welcome to the home of the freshest, most delicious strawberries in the world. Enjoy fresh Florida strawberries, available December through April.

Promoting New Crop of Florida Strawberries

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Florida Strawberry Growers Association promoting new crop of fresh Florida strawberries December through March

We are the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, dominating the market of fresh strawberries during the winter months. Florida is the domestic producer for East Coast markets, competing with increased imports of Mexican strawberries during the same season. As the “local” supplier, our berries travel fewer miles, which translates to fresher, tastier berries for consumers.

Florida Fields PreppedWe are expanding the strawberry research acreage this year. The new field behind the FSGA offices will showcase new advances in the industry, and tours of the facility will feature a working strawberry field and visit with a strawberry farmer to learn first-hand what it takes to grow strawberries today verses how it was done years ago by past generations.

While costs to grow strawberries continue to rise for the farmer, the retail market is very resistant to rising prices. Fortunately, strawberries are a popular consumer indulgence with incredible health benefits and versatility of utilization.

Despite the economic downturn, strawberries have increased in both sales and tonnage at retail. Our farmers are increasing acreage to continue to supply our flavorful fruit during the winter months, and we are optimistic that the popularity of strawberries will continue to grow.

With the increase in acreage this year, and barring any weather disasters, Florida farmers predict they’ll have good supplies of the world’s best strawberries from Christmas through March.

The season is off to a great start. The farmers prepare the land in August and plant from late September through mid-October. Approximately 20,000 plants per acre are all planted by hand! Which means fresh Florida strawberries at Thanksgiving!

The industry will plant more than 12,000 acres of berries this season, which make us the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World. Our industry is committed to providing customers with the safest, best quality and most delicious tasting berries on the market.

Best Flat Competition Results

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2014 Florida Strawberry Festival FSGA Booth
2014 FSGA Ambassadors, Morgan Sistrunk, Alssa Shepherd, Aly Joyner

Strawberry farmers in Florida have a long history of supporting our local community.  Every March, in conjunction with the Florida Strawberry Festival, our growers participate in an event we call the “Best Flat Competition.”  Growers bring their best berries to be judged on flavor, size, color, and other key attributes.

Winning boxes are auctioned to raise scholarship money for very deserving local students.  We have generated more than $400,000 in scholarships over the past 31 years with the help of this competition.

The Florida Strawberry Growers Association has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships since 1983. Scholarship applications are ready for pick up or download beginning in June each year and are usually due by the middle of September that same year.

The Florida Strawberry Growers Association offers scholarships to encourage young men and women to continue their education beyond high school. The committee will determine the amount of the scholarship, but none will be less than $500.00.

Eligible students must be an enrolled college undergraduate or a high school graduate and submit a letter of intent to attend college. You can find more information on our scholarship program here.

2014 BEST FLAT COMPETITION

February 28, 2014 – Swine Sale
1st Place Grower – Fancy Farms, Inc. $900.00
Handler – Wish Farms
Buyer – Wish Farms
2nd Place Grower – Mike Lott Farms $700.00
Handler – C & D Fruit & Vegetable
Buyer – Highland Package Solutions
3rd Place Grower –  Simmons Farms $500.00
Handler – Wish Farms
Buyer –  Wish Farms
Total Swine Sale $2,100.00

March 2, 2014 – Plant Sale
1st Place Grower – Fancy Farms, Inc. $500.00
Handler – Wish Farms
Buyer – Wish Farms
2nd Place Grower – Mike Lott Farm $550.00
Handler – C & D Fruit & Vegetable
Buyer – Rick Lott
3rd Place Grower – Simmons Farms $250.00
Handler – Wish Farms
Buyer – Wish Farms
Total Plant Sale $1,300.00

March 8, 2014 – Steer Sale
1st Place Grower – Simmons Farms $1,000.00
Handler – Wish Farms
Buyer – Wish Farms
2nd Place Grower – Daniel Gutierrez Farm $500.00
Handler – Gulf Coast Produce
Buyer – Crop Protection Services
3rd Place Grower – Mike Lott Farm $1,000.00
Handler – C & D Fruit & Vegetable
Buyer – Mike Lott Farm
Total Steer Sale $2,500.00
Total 2014 Sales $5,900.00

Giving Back To The Community

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Strawberry farmers in Florida have a long history of supporting our local community.  Every March, in conjunction with the Florida Strawberry Festival, our growers participate in an event we call the “Best Flat Competition.”  Growers bring their best berries to be judged on flavor, size, color, and other key attributes.

FSGA Booth at the 2014 Florida Strawberry Festival
FSGA Booth at the 2014 Florida Strawberry Festival

Winning boxes are auctioned to raise scholarship money for very deserving local students.  We have generated more than $400,000 in scholarships over the past 31 years with the help of this competition.  Read more about all this year’s “Best Flat” winners on our website and Facebook.

2014 Florida Strawberry Festival FSGA Booth
2014 FSGA Ambassadors, Morgan Sistrunk, Alssa Shepherd, Aly Joyner

Agriculture has deep roots in this community (pun intended), and we know that helping our brightest youth secure a higher education will help to strengthen our industry and our community as a whole.  Developing future leaders sustains our business, and the strawberry growers and handlers enjoy helping our youth achieve their highest goals.

In early February, Wish Farms held a celebrity picking competition, which raised over $75,000 for the Redlands Christian Migrant Association.  RCMA is a wonderful organization that provides quality education for the children of our farm workers as well as daycare for their pre-schoolers.  The achievements of these children are heart warming, and our industry is always proud to financially assist this very deserving group.

Team Ed and Barbara Bergmann, the winning team!

Another of the Wish Farms growers, Fancy Farms, opens a section of their farm up every March for a massive U-Pick day – with all proceeds going to the 4-H kids in our area.  This event is so popular that some cars have to park almost a mile away, but people gladly come out to pick some great fruit and raise money for another worthy organization.

Our major grower/handler, Sam Astin III of Astin Strawberry Exchange, provided funding for the new cattle pavilion at the Strawberry Festival.  The FFA youth now have a beautiful facility to strut their prize animals, and auction them for substantial money.  And whom do you think purchased the Grand Champions at this year’s auctions?  Mr. Astin bought the top pig, and Mr. Grimes bought the prize steer.  Both are key strawberry growers and handlers!

Other crops grow in locations scattered about our country, but Florida strawberries are so densely concentrated around Plant City that we can efficiently give back to the community that supports us.  Farming is certainly a tough business, but you can be assured our growers and handlers have big hearts when it comes to helping our area youth.  God bless them all!

Warmest regards,

Ted

Predicting a Good Year

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Yvonne Walker, left, and Ralph Hubbard restock the strawberries at the Strawberry Festival in March 2013. Florida strawberry growers are seeing less competition in its prime eastern U.S. markets. Photo: Pierre Ducharme | The Ledger
Yvonne Walker, left, and Ralph Hubbard restock the strawberries at the Strawberry Festival in March 2013. Florida strawberry growers are seeing less competition in its prime eastern U.S. markets. Photo: Pierre Ducharme | The Ledger

Despite a Slow Start, Strawberry Growers Still Predicting a Good Year

Despite weather and disease problems that hampered production at the start of the 2013-14 strawberry season, local growers still anticipate a good year.

“All we need now is a little more normal weather,” said Ted Campbell, executive director of the Florida Strawberry Growers Association in Dover, on Thursday. “We’re still optimistic for a good season.”

Florida provides most of the nation’s domestically grown strawberries during the winter months from more than 10,000 acres of fields throughout Plant City. The Florida strawberry season typically begins about Thanksgiving and goes into March.

Continue reading on The Ledger.

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Eat More Strawberries!

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8 reasons to appreciate nutrition-packed strawberriesHere’s a great article from the Mother Nature Network with eight reasons to appreciate nutrition-packed strawberries:

You probably know these berries pack a vitamin C wallop, but there’s a wealth of other good stuff inside.

Like strawberries? If you’re like the average consumer of this fruit — which is actually a member of the rose family — you consume about 5 pounds of strawberries each year.

How are strawberries, which are second only to apples in fresh-fruit popularity, doing your body good? Let’s review some strawberry nutrition facts.

Most strawberry lovers know that a serving contains a lot of vitamin C. In fact, one cup of strawberries (about eight medium-sized berries) yields 150 percent daily value (DV) of vitamin C. Talk about nutrient density! That’s a lot of vitamin C for only 50 calories.

Strawberries are also relatively high in fiber. One cup provides 3 grams, or 12 percent DV.

Continue reading for even more reasons you should eat more strawberries!

About Florida Winter Strawberries

In 1980, a few strawberry growers began meeting in their homes to discuss the best way to organize a group that would represent the interests of the Florida strawberry industry. On February 11, 1982, the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) was born. Hillsborough County is recognized as the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World and the home of some of the sweetest, reddest and juiciest strawberries around.

Get Connected

Florida Strawberry Growers Association
P.O. Box: 2550
Plant City, FL 33564
Telephone: 813-752-6822
Fax: 813-752-216

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