In this installment of the ‘Agronometrics In Charts’ series, Sarah Ilyas studies the progress of the California strawberry season. Each week the series looks at a different horticultural commodity, focusing on a specific origin or topic visualizing the market factors that are driving change.

California's 12-month growing season leads to the production of over 91 percent of the entire strawberry crop in the US. Other areas of the country have shorter production cycles, from an average of five-months to as short as a few weeks.

The Oxnard area, located in Ventura County just north of Los Angeles, provides fresh strawberries from January until June. In the Santa Maria area, north of Oxnard, picking usually starts in late February and lasts through November. Fresh-market strawberry shipments from Santa Maria usually peak in May.

The Santa Maria/Oxnard growing region currently produces roughly 80 percent of marketed strawberries in the U.S. According to California Giant Berry farms, stress to the plants and fruit from extreme fluctuations of hot and cold weather over the past 8 weeks is becoming visible in some of the strawberries from the Santa Maria region.

Despite the extreme weather, some agricultural experts report that production in California is expected to hit its second-highest level on record and extend well into the fall season. Demand remains strong for fresh strawberries, as it does year-round.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

According to the most recent USDA Specialty Crops Market News report, a wide range in quality and condition is being observed for strawberries from Santa Maria. Some bruising and decay could be expected in the incoming volumes. Maintaining the cold chain will be vital for shelf-life, according to industry experts. 

Prices in week 43 stood at around $23.5 per package, 17.5% higher compared to the 2021/22 season. As more volumes continue to trickle in as the season concludes, higher prices could be expected.

Source: USDA Market News via Agronometrics. (Agronometrics users can view this chart with live updates here)

The entire state is beset with drought conditions that range from abnormally dry to exceptionally dry. According to horticulture experts, however, as long as the plant gets 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week with the help of irrigation, the fruit should be able to bear through any precipitation deficit.

“California strawberry farmers rely on rain to reduce irrigation for plant establishment, rinse away salts from the root zone, and re-charge water sources used during the dry season. Most of the strawberry crop is planted in the fall, before the season’s precipitation arrives,” says Jeff Cardinale​, director of communications for the California Strawberry Commission.

In our ‘In Charts’ series, we work to tell some of the stories that are moving the industry. Feel free to take a look at the other articles by clicking here.

All pricing for domestic US produce represents the spot market at Shipping Point (i.e. packing house/climate controlled warehouse, etc.). For imported fruit, the pricing data represents the spot market at Port of Entry.

You can keep track of the markets daily through Agronometrics, a data visualization tool built to help the industry make sense of the huge amounts of data that professionals need to access to make informed decisions. If you found the information and the charts from this article useful, feel free to visit us at www.agronometrics.com where you can easily access these same graphs, or explore the other 21 commodities we currently track.