With last month being three degrees warmer than usual, this year marked the first time at Laari Farm that strawberries were ripe for picking already by June.

Kadri Nebokat, in her 15th season of growing strawberries at the farm just outside of Elva, said that the relatively cold spring preceding it was actually a boon to their strawberry plants.

"During this cold spring, [our] strawberries thrived under their grow covers, and now hot weather followed," she explained, adding that these berries should be ripe within a week or two.

According to the berry farmer, the price of strawberries is determined by the market. She highlighted the price of fertilizers, plants and land as well as labor costs as influencing factors.

Depending on the seller, Estonian-grown strawberries are currently going for €12-14 per kilogram.

Nebokat believes that strawberry prices will remain around last year's levels. "The price of strawberries is falling a bit each day," she noted. "I don't believe it will drop very low, because all costs around us have gone up."

Import strawberries from Poland or the Netherlands, which generally cost between €1.50-4 per kilo, are cheaper thanks to lower input prices as well as higher yield potential.

"We have very limited opportunities to protect our harvest, meaning increase our yield potential," Nebokat said, explaining why Estonian-grown strawberries are so much more expensive.

The majority of the labor involved in strawberry farming still comes from Ukraine. According to Andrus Horn, CEO of the strawberry-growing Helme Maasikakasvatuse OÜ, this year, berries are ripening a bit earlier than this season's contracted workers are due to arrive.

"It's tricky, it's tricky," Horn admitted. "Something's coming from Ukraine, but all of them were also contracted for more the middle of the month."

At Laari Farm, they're expecting members of youth summer volunteer work crews, known as malevad, around mid-month. On the whole, however, Estonians aren't eager to work as strawberry pickers.

"If someone works and they go on vacation over the summer, they're not interested in spending their vacation out in a field," Nebokat explained. "And even if they are interested, then only for a few days at most. But the season is every day."

There is plenty of work to go around at the farm. On top of picking strawberries, workers also need to weed, mow between the rows and plant new plants.

Nebokat expects this year's strawberry season in Estonia to peak around June 20, adding that they aren't expecting much of a harvest anymore come July.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!