Blooms and Berries near Cincinnati cancels Strawberry Days, Welch Farms, a pick-your-own strawberry farm in Chillicothe, cancels entire crop from fungal disease ravaging strawberry plants
Labrador retriever Ipo caught eating strawberries off front porch plant
A woman whose strawberries were vanishing caught the most adorable of culprits when she resorted to set up a camera outside her home in Watertown, MA.
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- Strawberry shortages are expected this year due to a fungal disease called neopestalotiopsis, or Neo-P.
- The fungus has been identified in Ohio since 2021 and has spread to other states, impacting strawberry crops.
- Consumers can expect to see higher strawberry prices due to the limited supply.
Blooms and Berries Farm Market near Cincinnati has canceled its annual Strawberry Days this year because of a lack of the fruit.
But it’s worse for Welch Farms in Chillicothe. The pick-your-own strawberry farm won’t have a crop at all this year because it can’t get the plants, it said in a Facebook post.
“We are not sure what the future will hold for the industry,” Welch Farms writes in their post. “Please say a prayer for all strawberry growers.”
Disease is making it a challenge for Ohio farms to get healthy strawberry plants this year.
Are strawberries going the way of eggs? Due to bird flu, eggs have seen shortages and price increases.
Here’s what to know.
Chillicothe strawberry producer Welch Farms cancels crop, can’t get plants due to disease
Welch Farms “focuses on providing high quality, fresh strawberries to the local community,” according to its website. The family-run farm has been growing strawberries since 2005, and allows customers access to the fields so they can pick their own.
On Facebook, Welch Farms wrote that they can’t get disease-free strawberry plants this year, so they’ve decided to not have a crop.
“We want to thank everyone who has supported us over the years,” the farm wrote. “[Your] support means more to us than you can know.”
Blooms and Berries Farm Market in suburban Cincinnati replacing Strawberry Days with Blackberry Days
Meanwhile, in the Cincinnati suburb of Loveland, Blooms and Berries Farm Market was forced to cancel its annual Strawberry Days event this year due to a lack of produce.
Last August, Blooms and Berries was set to receive eight acres of strawberry plants, the farm wrote on Facebook, but was informed, “like thousands of other farms,” that healthy plants were not available. That forced them to cancel the strawberry event.
“It was, and is, heartbreaking as our community, our team and our family count on the strawberry crop each spring,” the farm wrote.
In its place, Blooms and Berries will hold Blackberry Days from July 12-20.
“We’ve got to do something fun for our community, for our team, and blackberries was an obvious next choice,” Blooms and Berries’ Emily Probst told Fox19. “We’ve done blackberries for several years now, but we’re making an event out of it and shifting our attention this way.”
Why is there a strawberry shortage in 2025? Fungal disease neopestalotiopsis, or Neo-P, ravaging plants
Welch Farms confirmed in comments on its Facebook post that the strawberry plant shortage is being caused by neopestalotiopsis, which is also called Neo-P. The aggressive fungal infection has hit strawberry growers across the southeast and is spreading, according to media reports.
The fungus, which was first identified in Ohio in 2021, has resulted in significant crop loss in the state, Melanie L. Lewis Ivey, plant pathology professor at the Ohio State University, wrote in the October 2024 newsletter “Ohio Fruit News,” produced by the OSU Extension.
“As many strawberry producers are aware, obtaining disease free plants this year has been very challenging,” Lewis Ivey wrote. “Nurseries have been canceling orders or have been telling growers that they can purchase plants at their own risk.”
No cultivated varieties of strawberry are resistant to the fungus, she wrote, which has also been identified in blueberries in Ohio and grapevines elsewhere. Neopestalotiopsis spreads rapidly in cool and wet conditions, and infected plants should be destroyed and not composted.
As a result of the fungus, strawberry shortages are expected this year, Lewis Ivey said in an email Monday. Many growers have reduced their strawberry plantings or are not planting at all.
Greenhouses are equally at risk, she said. Since their strawberry plantings are sourced from the same supplies as field growers, they pose the same risk of a reduced supply.
And, like with eggs, shoppers will likely see higher strawberry prices because of it.
“Due to these shortages, berry prices are likely to rise,” Lewis Ivey said Monday, “and U-pick operations may not open.”
Why are egg prices going up? What’s causing a shortage?
The avian flu strain H5N1, first identified in the U.S. in late 2021, has led to the death of millions of egg-laying chickens in the U.S., including more than eight million in Ohio — either from infection or culling of flocks, USA TODAY reports. It has sickened more than 65 people over the past year and led to the death of one Louisiana resident in January.
Because of it, egg prices have continued to rise, with the average price of a dozen large Grade A eggs hitting an all-time high in the U.S. in January, up 15% to $4.95, according to NerdWallet, citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And that price is expected to climb even higher. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released a report predicting egg prices will increase 41.1% this year, per USA TODAY.
