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Asparagus harvest starts with nonstop growth

An asparagus grower says this has been his first season with multiple all-night harvests.

“That asparagus wanted to grow, and it did, it really showed us who was boss there for a few days.”

Fourth-generation farmer Derek Oomen tells Brownfield picking started the first week of May.

“Usually we’ll have busy starts, but what we went through, the hydrocooler essentially never shut off for five days,” he shares. “We had crews going out, starting picking at 2:00 a.m. the morning and picking till midnight, and then doing it all over again.”

Oomen says he expects harvest to end by the third week in June and is preparing for another growth spurt.

“We’ll have some warmer weather coming it looks like,” he says. “I know this with this rain, it’s going to want to take off on us again, and you’re going to see another big bump in yield.”

Warm weather can cause asparagus to grow up to seven inches per day.

Michigan is the nation’s largest asparagus producer.