Higher demand for Saskatchewan fruit produce as more people have staycations
With more people having staycations this year due to the pandemic, many Saskatchewan producers are seeing a higher demand for their fruit produce.
Forrest Scharf, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture provincial fruit crop specialist, said u-pick businesses are experiencing a greater interest in particular. For example, he is aware of one u-pick operation just outside Saskatoon where the producer is seeing people line up outside before the gate opens at 8 a.m. waiting to enjoy some time picking strawberries.
“What normally would be the busy traffic of Saturday is happening throughout the week,” Scharf said. “They were quite pleased with the amount of demand.”
As far as the 2020 season for fruit production, Scharf said many crops faired well this season overall, although there were some mixed results.