Farmers weigh cost of mild winter, warm spring on summer farmers' markets

MECHANICSVILLE- The warm March is impacting Iowa grown produce.  Asparagus, garlic and even the popular morel mushrooms are coming into season earlier than usual.  Unseasonably warm weather could mean some farmers are busier now than normal.  That means off-season markets would see produce they usually don't have available this time of year. 

"Spring set the fuse several weeks early,” said Ecologist Randall Scheiner.

Tthat lit a fire under several crops on the Echollective Farm in Mechanicsville.

"Right now we have stalks that are beyond our ideal harvesting size of that being twelve inches,” said Farmer William Lorentzen.

Asparagus is just one of those 'one and done' crops blooming too soon this year.  And so is garlic.

“This should be a lot lower and a lot less developed,” said Lorentzen.

The finicky yet desirable morel mushrooms are popping up too.

"Last year I was looking for them in early May.  This year it's early April,” said Scheiner.

But these crops won't last until the peak summer farmers' market season.

"It might result in a limited selection of what we have at farmers markets from what people have expected in the past from us,” said Lorentzen.

On the other hand, that means you can purchase these healthy treats earlier than normal.

"If it weren't for these year round markets we wouldn't be able to get our asparagus out to people and get a lot of these crops that are further along,” said Lorentzen.

"If those restaurants can pivot with the early spring and serve it as gourmet.  It's a delicious mushroom,” said Scheiner.

While many produce won't come back later in the year, other farmers could 'double dip' and have two or more harvests this season.

"It might also mean we have a bigger product if we harvest them at the same time of year they might have been able to get further along,” said Lorentzen.

The threat of a hard freeze could be a bad thing for those plants that have already started blooming.  But it could also kill pests, fungus, and bacteria.