Choosing a strawberry production system

There are two types of strawberries used in cold climate commercial production: June-bearing and day-neutral.

These are different varieties grown in distinctly different systems with different management requirements and harvest times. While June-bearing strawberries are typically grown on matted rows with straw, day-neutral strawberries are most often grown on raised beds covered with plastic. They share some requirements, such as pest management and nutrient needs.

June-bearing strawberries

• Harvested for 3 to 5 weeks, from late June to mid-July.
• Perennial: grown for 3 to 5 years before being removed and replaced with new plants.
• Most productive in the second, third, and fourth years after planting.
• Grown on matted rows with straw mulch.
• Covered with straw over the winter.
• Must be renovated each season immediately after harvest. Renovation includes mowing down old leaves, controlling weeds and fertilizing the plants so they regrow vigorously before winter.
• Reproduce via runners that allow them to expand into dense, wide rows.

Day-neutral strawberries

• Typically grown as annuals: removed and replaced every year.
• Although they can technically survive for more than one year, they are usually most productive and disease-free in the first season, so they are replanted every year.
• Produce fruit for about 14 weeks from July to October in Minnesota.
• Produce significantly higher yields than June-bearing strawberries.
• Usually grown on plastic mulch under low tunnels, but can also be grown in caterpillar tunnels, high tunnels, tabletop gutters, or in open field settings.
  • Highest yields are achieved on plastic mulch under low tunnels.
  • Tabletop day-neutral strawberry systems are still being developed and tested in Minnesota.
• Runners must be removed from day-neutral strawberries since they serve no purpose in this system. If runners are left, they take energy away from fruit production.

More information on day-neutral strawberry production. 

June-bearing varieties in matted rows	Day-neutral strawberries
June-bearing cultivars	Day-neutral cultivars
Grown in an open field on flat rows or slightly raised beds with no plastic mulch (to allow rooting of daughter plants).	Best grown on raised beds with plastic mulch and either high tunnels or low tunnels.
Harvest in June to early July.	Harvest from mid-July through early October.
Planted in early Spring.	Planted in early spring.
Plants can stay in the ground 3–4 years.	Plants are replaced every year.
2–3 acres are sufficient for a small operation.	A few rows can offer high yields of extended-season fruit.
4000–9000 plants/ac, depending on spacing.	200 plants per 100 feet of row, or about 17,500 plants/ac, depending on row spacing.
Primary costs include plants, straw mulch, irrigation, labor.	Primary costs include plants, plastic mulch, tunnel materials, irrigation, labor.
Weeds can be a major challenge.	Weeds are minimal due to plastic mulch.
Produce fruit one year after planting.	Produce fruit during year of planting only.
3–4 years of production from planting.	One year of production from planting.
Average to high market value.	High market value because system facilitates organic and extended-season production.
Yield up to 7000 lbs/acre.	While the results are still preliminary, studies have shown a yield up to 20,000 lbs/acre.

Author: Annie Klodd, Extension educator, fruit and vegetable production