Sweet but hard season for watermelon growers

It has been so hot this year that farmer Patrick Owens had to put sunscreen on his watermelon crop.

Watermelons typically prefer dry weather to wet weather, but extreme heat calls for extreme measures.

The risk is that the sun’s intense and prolonged heat will give one of summertime’s favorite fruits a sunburn.

“This year, we have actually gone through there and sprayed copper and calcium on them. That serves as a sun barrier,” Owens said. “It is basically sunscreen.”

Owens said the treatment is “perfectly safe” for consumers.

“What it will do is block those ultraviolet rays. A good, hard rain will wash it off. On those days like we had before July 4 when it was 100 degrees, I sprayed it for the first time. We spray the whole field. It is expensive. That’s the reason I haven’t done it before.”

Owens hopes the screen will prevent the fruit from becoming sunburned and allow the melons to ripen later and grow slightly larger.

For Owens, watermelon season started earlier than anticipated, mostly because of the heat.

“Typically, they say hot and dry weather makes watermelons sweeter,” Owens said. “I can say that the quality of our crop so far has been good. The taste and the sweetness and everything has been on par.”

The problem this year? Providing enough water to keep the plants alive.

“If you have got irrigation, you are in a better spot than if you don’t, but if you do have irrigation, it is hard to keep up,” Owens said.

Having to water the plants comes with an additional expense as well.

“You are just unable to keep up, even with irrigation, in reality,” Owens said. “We have caught some timely rains in the last week or so that have certainly helped, but they have been nowhere near getting us back to the water table that we desire.”

Owens, a Beddingfield High School and N.C. State University graduate, is in his 11th year running Patrick Owens Farms.

As Owens went from one watermelon patch to another on a recent day, watermelon buyers called him almost nonstop.

“This time of year, the phone starts ringing and it never stops,” Owens said. “I still think watermelons are your best bang for your buck for a mother with children or a family versus buying peaches or other things to give your kids a summertime treat.”

Owens grows about 100 acres of melons and works to market another 100 acres of fruit that associate growers produce.

“We just try to market them together and try to have the same consistent quality,” Owens said. “Everybody is on the same page in terms of what varieties we are growing, how we are growing them, the timing of when we are growing them.”

The relationship helps prevent gaps in inventory to sell from his Wilson packing facility. The arrangement preserves his customer base because there’s a consistent supply.

Owens said his seedless melons are shipped up and down the East Coast, with the majority consumed in the Northeast. They typically aren’t sold locally.

After the cost of inputs, such as chemicals, fertilizer, land rent, plastic and labor, Owens has a slim margin for profit when trucking costs are added in.

“Luckily, our quality is really good, so I felt confident about shipping them even with a small profit margin,” Owens said.

This year’s weather has been tough on the crop.

“It’s been the hottest year I can remember my life,” Owens said. “We do need the rain, there is no doubt about that. It’s been a trying year.”

Owens and fellow Wilson County watermelon grower James Sharp are both board members for the N.C. Watermelon Association.

The post Sweet but hard season for watermelon growers first appeared on Restoration NewsMedia .