A Market Analysis of Grower Interest and Operational Feasibility of Local Strawberry Plug Production in Kansas

Commodities

Practices

In Kansas, annual strawberry production is rapidly increasing. Organic and conventional growers can generate good profits and improve the quality of life for consumers through agritourism opportunities and availability of highly nutritious fresh fruit. KS growers face various strawberry production challenges, including high input costs, heavy pest and disease pressure, and harsh weather conditions. More recently, it has become apparent that the unavailability of locally produced planting material is a major challenge. In 2024, organic strawberry plug orders were canceled due to the recent outbreak of neopestalotiopsis, which is causing massive disruptions in the strawberry plug supply chain. Producing strawberry plugs locally could be a potential solution to this problem as growers could produce their own or buy from local nurseries. The overall goal of this project is to make the first steps towards giving local strawberry producers the ability to control their own planting material supply and develop new agricultural businesses in the North Central Region.

We aim to collect insights and feedback from local growers about strawberry plug production. The pilot project of strawberry plug production will help researchers identify the challenges and create an opportunity to do future research to address these challenges. This project will also emphasize disseminating the outcomes of this project and giving hands-on workshops to local growers on producing their own strawberry plugs. Moreover, this project will increase income and profitability for farmers, develop new businesses, increase quality of life for farmers and consumers.

Objective 1 - In action outcome, the advisory board will help to create alliances between nursery owners, researchers, and extension agents to plan for the establishment of nurseries in Kansas. We aim to reach 250-300 small, large, and urban fruit growers. Learning outcomes will include a better understanding of challenges for nursery raising in Kansas and analyses of preferences, attitudes, and concerns of growers about locally produced planting material that will provide results for barriers and opportunities for adoption of local planting material.

Objective 2 - A standardized phytosanitary protocol will be identified for the procurement of healthy strawberry cuttings suitable for plug production in Kansas. Additionally, a pilot batch of disease-free strawberry plugs will be successfully produced, demonstrating the practicality and effectiveness of localized propagation under controlled nursery conditions. This outcome will serve as a foundational step toward establishing a sustainable, regionally adapted strawberry plug production system. The challenges associated with strawberry plug production in KS will be identified and addressed in future research.

Objective 3 - Strawberry plug production training will be provided to the local growers at workshops and field days. Pilot study results will be presented to the growers at the annual veggie field day at OHREC. We anticipate that the local strawberry plug production and availability of sufficient planting material during the planting season of strawberries will increase the number of growers and farms in the state.