By STEPHANIE BEECKEN
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - The unseasonably warm winter, high temperatures in the spring and record breaking summer heat are proving costly for some East Tennessee farmers.
Dennis Fox grew his first crop of strawberries almost 30 years ago at the Fruit and Berry Patch in Knoxville.
He sells produce at a local farmers market. People also come to the farm to pick their own berries and pay per basket. But this year, business has been especially slow.
"To a degree it's discouraging, but when you're a farmer if you let it bother you, you'd go absolutely crazy," Fox said.
He says business is down 50 percent due to the weather. Fox has fewer customers and fewer crops to sell.
He also says his fruits and berries are half the size they should be because of the heat, and they're ripening two to four weeks earlier than usual.
"Late April was very hot. It was up in the upper 80s and strawberries get ripe real fast when it's hot like that so people weren't coming out to pick them," Fox said.
He says people don't know when the different fruits are ready to pick this year because they're ripe weeks before their typical season. Plus, the heat is causing fewer customers to visit.
"The heat has slowed down the customers. We are closing down at 94 degrees. We don't want anyone to get sick we had some customers get sick a few years ago," said Fox.
The warm temperatures have caused Fox to lose almost half of his crops, but he stays positive that people will pick what's left and business will be back to normal next year.
"It will be better next year," Fox said. "My glass is always half full."
Fox also sells pumpkins. He needs to plant them soon so they're ready in October, but he's worried he may not be able to if we don't get more rain.
"To a degree it's discouraging, but when you're a farmer if you let it bother you, you'd go absolutely crazy," Dennis Fox said.
His fruits and berries are half the size they should be because of the heat.
