An unusually cold and wet spring has Northwest asparagus growers anxious because the crop isn’t coming up. Large asparagus packing houses say they’re down hundreds-of-thousands of pounds so far this spring from normal.
Asparagus season is really short. In June, two things halt harvest: Searing temperatures unfurls the fern heads -- making them low-quality. And at the same time, workers leave asparagus fields in droves for higher-paying jobs in cherry orchards. ?
Yakima Valley asparagus farmer Norm Inaba said he’s worried that he won’t make his numbers by June with this season’s slow growth. ?
“We’re probably the latest we’ve ever been for asparagus,” he said. “The latest that I can remember. So it will be an interesting year.”
But Inaba said that the quality of the crop has been excellent and when the weather warms up -- he might make up some ground. He also said the slow start has meant grocery stores now have room for Washington asparagus -- because they’ve sold through their foreign produce.
