Wish Farms harvests year's first strawberry flat in Florida

Plant City, Fla.-based Wish Farms says its farm has harvested the year’s first strawberry flat in Florida. Farm manager Chris Parks shared the news with the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, which celebrates the annual feat officially kicking off the season.

“This achievement means a lot to us at this moment in time," Nick Wishnatzki, Wish Farms public relations director, said in a news release. "The last few weeks have been challenging after our farm sustained quite a bit of storm damage.”

Wish Farms said its G&D Farms is considered to be the largest contiguous strawberry farm in the world. Located in Florida's Manatee County, it represents 650 planted acres of strawberries and pineberries. The area experienced over 100 mph winds from Hurricane Milton, with the storm ripping up plastic beds and drip tape and flinging a 20-foot tall, 11,500-gallon tank nearly a mile into the nearby forest, the release said.

“It makes me very proud that only three weeks ago, this devastating storm made a direct hit, and here we are talking about harvesting the very first strawberries from this farm,” Wishnatzki said. “It speaks volumes about the resilience and hard work of our farm team, as well as our whole family of growers who worked many overtime hours to get their farms repaired.”

The company said it is optimistic that the season will be a success and that berry flavor will be exceptional. Shoppers will be able to find Florida strawberries on grocery store shelves in the coming weeks, the release said.