Strawberry season off to a good start thanks to recent rain relief

Local farmers are rejoicing as rain hits Waterloo region after a stretch of dry conditions, including at Herrle's Country Farm Market, where strawberry season has just begun.

Herrle’s, in St. Agatha, is getting ready to open their Pick Your Own Strawberry Fields around June 20.

On Monday, CTV’s Heather Senoran met with James Herrle, the field manager at Herrle’s, who talked about strawberry season at the farm.

How do you feel about this rain?

It was almost perfect how it came. We had almost 40 millimetres over an 18-hour period. It came beautifully. Nice and gentle. Didn’t all end up in the ditches, it all ended up in the field where we wanted it.

James Hurrle at a strawberry field in St. Agatha on June 12, 2023. (CTV News/Dan Lauckner)

What was the impact of the dry conditions?

Certain crops were definitely feeling it more. Strawberries are at a growth stage where they want almost an inch of rain a week. And we weren’t getting that, so we were having to supplement with irrigation. A lot of the other crops weren’t at stages where they needed rain, but they were definitely ready for some. They were not feeling the pinch yet, but if it had extended much longer, they would have been suffering.

There is a special statement from Environment Canada calling for anywhere from 30 to 50 millimetres of rain. Is there such a thing as too much rain?

There certainly is too much. And for certain crops, too much can mean a different number. For strawberries, we’ve had just about a perfect amount. We wouldn’t want anymore. Because all of the sudden we can get into excessive moisture, and they’re not going to stand up well to that rain. But right now, we’re thankful for what we’ve had. Hoping that the sunshine comes out and we can utilize this rain and make things grow.