Strawberry Farmers Heading for Strong Sales This Season

Led by Oxnard-area growers, strawberry production across Southern California is three times greater this season than it was a year ago, with a mild winter providing a lightning-quick start to this year’s harvest.

The heavy yields will mean an abundance of berries on supermarket shelves over the next month, a bonanza expected to drive down prices but still produce a windfall for berry farmers.

California Farm Bureau spokesman Bob Krauter said prices could drop as low as $1 a pound, half of what strawberries cost this time last year.

“This has been one of the best starts in years for the strawberry industry,” he said. “I think the fact that the season is off to such a strong start is good for both farmers and consumers.”

Growers from Oxnard to Orange County report that they are weeks ahead of harvesting schedules, with strawberry fields in those areas benefiting from little rain, warm overnight temperatures and few threats of freeze.

Statewide, growers have produced 2.6 million crates of strawberries so far this season, the bulk of those--1.8 million--coming from the Oxnard area.

The Orange County and San Diego districts have produced 764,000 crates so far this season.

Last year at this time, strawberry growers statewide had produced only 778,000 crates.

“The growing conditions are just ideal right now, especially in the southern end of the state,” said Dominique Jordan, spokeswoman for the California Strawberry Commission. “Heading into 2000, with the ultimate growing conditions, you can look for record volume this year.”

Locally, crop yields were held back last year by some rain and a brutal cold snap that gripped the region and slowed production of the county’s second most valuable cash crop.

Out on the Oxnard Plain, where more strawberry fields have been planted in recent years than any other area of the state, that slow start is still fresh on growers’ minds.

So even though they are pleased to be off to such a good start this year, they know that their crop is fickle and that any stretch of bad weather can quickly spoil their fortunes.

“This plant is coming on full tilt,” said strawberry farmer Cecil Martinez, noting that production is as much as six weeks ahead of schedule at his 88-acre ranch.

“But somewhere along the line, somebody in control higher than me always throws a monkey wrench into things,” he said. “In this business, you learn to take it when you can get it.”

In Ventura County, the larger yields are also a result of a record number of plantings.

With nearly 7,600 acres in production this season, the county is the second-largest strawberry-growing region in California, trailing only the Watsonville-Salinas area in production and crop value.

The acreage represents a 13% increase over last year and a 70% jump since 1994, when 4,449 acres were dedicated to strawberry production.

Statewide, acreage increased 7.1% over last year, with 26,339 acres in production this season.

“The demand is very high for strawberries, and growers are responding with increased acreage and varieties that have more yield,” Jordan said.

It’s impossible to tell whether the higher-than-normal yields in Southern California will also take place up north, where the season starts three months later.

There has been more rain in Northern California.

Oxnard strawberry grower David Murray said it’s also impossible to tell whether Southern California will continue to be blessed by such good weather and growing conditions.

Technically, the Oxnard Plain isn’t done with frost season. And the skies have been known to open up in February and March, bringing torrents of rain and bad news for growers.

“The yield is there; the pickers are happy because they’re looking at a real good season from the standpoint of making money,” said Murray, general manager at Coastal Berry Co., where the harvest is at least a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. “But it can change in an instant. We have to be careful not to get too optimistic.”

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Strawberry Fields

With 7,591 acres in production this season, Ventura County continues to hold firm to its position as the second-largest strawberry-growing region in the state, trailing only the Watsonville-Salinas area.

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% change Region 1996 1999 2000 1999-2000 Oxnard 5,100 6,692 7,591 13.4% Orange County / San Diego 2,495 2,543 2,465 -3.1% Santa Maria 5,063 3,703 4,218 13.9% Watsonville / Salinas 11,712 11,108 11,444 3.0% San Joaquin Valley 875 557 621 11.5%

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Source: California Strawberry Commission

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Record Production

Fueled by good weather, California’s strawberry harvest could be on its way to a record year. Production along the Southern California coast is more than three times greater this season than it was the same time a year ago.

Crates produced so far this season

Oxnard: 1.8 million

Orange County / San Diego: 764,000

Statewide: 2.6 million

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Source: California Strawberry Commission