Tough season for Maine tomatoes
The loss of Backyard Farms' greenhouse tomato crop and a wetter-than-normal June that doused the crops of more traditional farmers have combined to create a later and leaner season for locally grown tomatoes in Maine.
The growing season for tomatoes runs from May to October in Southern and midcoast Maine, and can be shorter in Northern parts of the State. The beginning of August is the typical start of the tomato harvest, but this season has been a few weeks behind. Some farmers say they have done well with tomatoes grown in greenhouses or hoop houses, but struggled with tomatoes grown outdoors.
"Tomatoes inside hoop houses - or grown inside - did well but we're just about out of those," said Bob Spear, who owns Spear's Vegetable Farm in Nobleboro. "We're still waiting for outside tomatoes to come up."
Tomatoes are the fourth-most popular fresh-market vegetable in the country, trailing potatoes, lettuce and onions, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Though they're botanically fruit, the USDA classifies tomatoes as vegetables.
Maine farmers say a soggy June – when rainfall was 3.5 inches above the average of 3.79 inches – delayed production and contributed to disease. Excess water can wash away essential nutrients and oxygen in the soil that tomato plants need to thrive, and can cause stem bases to rot and flowering buds to attract gray mold and other diseases, farmers say.
Problems with this year's crop at Backyard Farms in Madison have contributed to a shortage of Maine-grown tomatoes in stores. The commercial grower has had to destroy two crops of tomato plants this Summer. The company, which typically produces more than 27 million pounds of tomatoes each year in greenhouses that cover 42 acres, had to destroy one crop because of a whitefly infestation. The second crop was destroyed when Backyard Farms decided the replacement seedling plants were inferior. As a result, Backyard Farms, which sells to retailers in the Northeast ranging from Hannaford to Whole Foods to Walmart, said its tomatoes won't be available until early 2014.
Spear, who sells his produce to Hannaford and Shaw's, said, "It's a very clear fact that Backyard Farms isn't producing tomatoes, which means there's not as many local tomatoes in stores right now. Therefore demand is strong for any local production. We are still hoping to be coming up with tomatoes in the next week or two. We're hoping Mother Nature will cooperate and we'll get tomatoes soon," he said. "Time will tell."
Source: pressherald.com
