Wish Farms adds strawberry acreage in Florida

Berry grower and marketer Wish Farms, Plant City, Fla., is adding strawberry acreage in Florida.

The company’s farm operations, G&D Farms, is adding 800 acres of adjacent land, about 600 of which will be used for production, according to a news release. Founded it 1987, it is named for company founders Gershon and Daniel, and was considered to be the largest contiguous strawberry farm in the world even before the acreage acquisition, according to the release.

“This expansion is very exciting for our team,” Chris Parks, farm manager, said in the release. “Not only is the land directly adjacent to our current farm, but we can immediately start farming organically.”

The land hasn’t been farmed for many years, he said, so the company can bypass the three-year transition from conventional to organic production.

“It gives us a lot of flexibility with rotation, ensuring that we are good stewards of the land,” Parks said in the release.

Wish Farms will harvest strawberries from 55 acres of the new land this season, with plans to gradually increase that.

More than 90% of G&D Farms’ overall acreage is of the Sweet Sensation variety, but Wish Farms is using several rows to test 100 new varieties and seedling trials, according to the release. Seven acres of the white strawberry variety, branded Pink-A-Boo Pineberries, have been planted.

“I believe there will be strong demand for Pink-A-Boos in the coming years, and this land will allow us to expand that program without having to reduce our red strawberry acreage,” owner Gary Wishnatzki said in the release.

G&D Farms is reducing use of non-organic pesticides through techniques that include releasing pest predators.

“The same effective organic method has worked really well for our non-organic crop,” Parks said in the release. “This season we started experimenting with drones that scout and release. If it works, it could be a major boost to our farm’s efficiency.”