I knew the day would come, but kept hoping it was several years in the future.
Rowe’s Produce Farm in Belleville, Michigan, where I’ve picked berries for several decades, announced they would no longer have u-pick strawberries.
Visiting the Rowe’s website last week, I found their news update:
Due to catastrophic weather conditions in 2024 and 2025 we no longer have any strawberries for you pick.
I received their “The List” newsletter this week, with more details:
This is the first email of the 2026 you pick season.
In case you missed the notification on our website or our Facebook page.
WE NO LONGER GROW STRAWBERRIES.
The last two seasons resulted in the worst two crops we have ever grown due to catastrophic weather conditions.
We did everything we could to try and bring them back but have failed.
At our age we would rather play with our grandchild than start over in the berry business.
There will be no more berries going forward.
Sad news to read, but sounds like they made the best decision.
About Rowe’s and U-Pick
Since the 1990’s, Rowe’s was my go-to place for u-pick strawberries. And for many years, u-pick raspberries until the farm stopped raising them.
Rowe’s was the last of five u-pick strawberry farms that existed in 1990 within a 30-minute drive from our home.
Other farms closed down, some selling to developers who built subdivisions of homes.
But Rowe’s continued on.
They have u-pick peas and open a farm market in mid-summer to sell corn, melons, beans, and other produce.
I was so impressed with their long-term relationship with their customers, I published my blog post On Strawberries and Customer Service highlighting Rowe’s customer service points:
- Meet customers’ expectations
- Notify customers of latest berry picking status
- Offer more than one option for customers to get the latest status update
- On first meeting, make the customer feel welcome
- Provide clear navigation to the customer, don’t let them get lost or confused.
- Have extra supplies available when the customer needs them
- Provide a clear path to checkout
- Offer personal service at the time of purchase
- Provide more then one payment option
- Thank the customer for their purchase. Offer to sign them up to email list to get the latest info.
For years, our family would pick berries together. I still have memories of our two-year old child (now an adult) picking berries easily (they were much close to the ground back then).
While I’ll stop by to get produce when their farm market opens later this summer. I’ll miss the tradition of picking berries in spring at Rowe’s.
