In all his years of working on the family farm, Bill Zylmans has never seen a summer harvest like this.
鈥淚鈥檓 58 years old now and I have never, ever come across something of this nature,鈥� Zylmans said of this year鈥檚 early, dry summer heat wave and what it鈥檚 done for crops.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 on for the foreseeable future.鈥�
This year鈥檚 heat has made for an earlier harvest than usual, which means those hoping to pick berries at their local U-pick might be out of luck.
鈥淭hings are extremely early, things are going extremely fast, and the crops are probably not as plentiful,鈥� Zylmans said of things like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
鈥淎ny berry crop just cannot handle these extreme heats.鈥�
B.C. produces about one-quarter of the country鈥檚 strawberries, which is a $6-million harvest, and in recent years, has seen raspberry harvests as large as 20 million kilograms and as small as 11 million kg. The province also produces about 95 per cent of the country鈥檚 blueberries.
Farmers typically begin to harvest strawberries in late May, with the majority of the crop harvested in June.
The tail end of the strawberry harvest then overlaps with raspberries, which are usually late June and early July fare. Blueberries are traditionally harvested in mid- to late July.
Christine Koch, manager of the Fraser Valley Farm Direct Marketing Association, said that hasn鈥檛 been the case for 2015.
鈥淭his year, all three berries are 鈥� bam! 鈥� on top of each other,鈥� she said, noting there鈥檚 been much more of an overlap between the berry crops.
Koch said she鈥檚 also heard rumblings from association members that corn might begin its harvest as early as this coming week, something that usually doesn鈥檛 happen until late July.
Zylmans is the owner of W&A Farms in Richmond, which has been around since 1957. The farmer said he鈥檚 gone through the farm鈥檚 records and said there isn鈥檛 a recorded summer where crops have come so early due to an early stretch of hot weather.
W&A Farms usually closes following strawberry season to regroup before opening again in August with pumpkins, gourds, squash and other seasonal vegetables.
鈥淥bviously, if there鈥檚 certain veggies, berries or fruit you鈥檙e interested in, be on top of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause everything is ahead of the program.鈥�
Consumers who buy direct from farms would do best to stay in touch with the farm, check their websites for updates, and be aware that this summer鈥檚 timeline has been and will continue to be very different than previous years.
However, early crops don鈥檛 come without their own sets of challenges.
Koch noted there has been some talk of farmers struggling to get enough pickers to help with the harvest, and there are concerns about the lack of moisture in the ground.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing selection but the thing is, you鈥檝e got to have enough water for the crops,鈥� said Koch.
Zylmans noted that farmers who are 鈥渃aught off guard鈥� are now trying to install irrigation systems in anticipation of a late summer dry spell, but even that 鈥渕ay be a little bit too late.鈥� Those with the infrastructure already in place are having to use them a lot sooner.
鈥淔armers don鈥檛 have a whole lot of history with a summer like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no textbook method to deal with this.鈥�
