Locally-grown strawberries are in high demand at markets, but the time and labor demands of growing them make strawberries a trickier crop to manage than many realize. The plants require a year of establishment before the first harvest; preventing competition from weeds is critical.
In a trial, Lee Matteson and Rose Schick of Nevada compared the enterprise budgets for strawberries under two methods of establishment: matted rows mulched with corn stalk mulch, and planted into biodegradable plastic mulch. For two years, the farmers tracked expenses, labor, yield and revenue on four varieties of strawberries to determine which establishment system was better for their farm.