ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 6, 1990                   TAG: 9006060116
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

STRAWBERRY HARVEST HURT BY FROST, RAIN

Late-season frosts and heavy rain last month meant a short strawberry season in many parts of Virginia, where some farmers lost as much as 80 percent of their crop.

"I haven't done a whole statewide survey, but I've seen some farmers with near total crop loss, only 20 or 30 percent [of a normal crop]," Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension horticulturist Herbert Stiles said Tuesday.

The Virginia berry crop is worth at least $5 million in an ordinary year, Stiles said. Harvesting is already complete for many Virginia farmers. In better years harvesting continues well into June in most parts of the state, growers said.

- Associated Press 


 by CNB