December 11, 2017

Happy Monday!

We are already almost halfway through December and this month has been nothing short of a whirlwind. As many already know, Mother Nature has thrown us fierce Santa Ana winds that have contributed to devastating Southern California wildfires. We have been monitoring the air pollution and keeping an eye on smoke levels to make sure the environment is safe for our workers to be in. With that said, smoke seems to be clearing the Oxnard area today, and this marks our first day of strawberry harvest in this region. Despite the hurdles, we are off to a good start to the season in Oxnard. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those who have been affected by these raging California fires, and we hope to see improved conditions in the near future for surrounding areas.

For more information, including crop and weather reports, please scroll below.

Crop Updates
Watsonville - Salinas:
 

This will be our last week receiving fruit in our Salinas – Watsonville regions. While we have no rain in our immediate forecast – it’s time to wrap up our season with Friday being our official last day receiving fruit. In the meantime, our strawberry plants for next season are making great progress. We are seeing some flower and green fruit, with some blocks looking very advanced.

Santa Maria

We are starting this week off with temperatures in the high 70s and will heat up into the low 80s mid-week. Temperatures will taper off into the mid 70s into the later end of the week and into next week. There is no rain in our immediate forecast – but we have had some windy days with 30mph gusts. Mornings remain chilly with 30-40 degree temperatures. Winds have shifted from the Southern California fires resulting in ash and smoke heading northbound into our Santa Maria growing region. While ash is a factor, we are taking extra precautions in our packaging and supplying field workers with protective masks to ensure their safety in these conditions. You can learn more about California smoke quality in the San Luis Obispo County here. Despite poor air quality in much of California, quality among our organic fall crop looks good with counts at 20-24, and some green shoulders here and there. Our organic fall crop looks nice, with counts 22-26 – some bigger, and dropping a decent amount of fruit.

Mexico:

Our Mexico growing regions experienced some colder temperatures over the weekend, with nighttime lows in the 36-39 degree range. Daytime temperatures are steady in the 70s. Winds in Los Reyes have been fierce and resulting in some minor damage among our blackberries. Blackberries in Ziracuaretiro look good with few quality issues. Blueberries are looking good as usual, with no defects or quality issues. Raspberries transitioned from excellent size to moderate size. This stems from the mother plants finishing their fruit, but daughter plants are on the way and still loaded with great size and shape. This fruit will be harvested in a few short weeks. Strawberries in Maravatío look good in size, with counts 20-26 count. The main challenge we have faced is white shoulder due to low temperatures, but quality control is working hard to avoid receiving fruit this color. Strawberries in Zamora look good, with counts 20-24.

Oxnard:

This region has been off to bumpy start in terms of weather – with our Southern California fires producing smoky air quality and fierce Santa Ana winds. The gusty winds have led to some broken leaves and minor defects. We are hoping for some rainfall to settle down the conditions – but unfortunately we do not see rain in our forecast for a few weeks. Our Oxnard grower has confirmed that the fire has burned westward away from Ventura County into Carpentaria and Santa Barbara county. While fires are still burning in Ventura County, the fire is burning away from homes into the hills and mountain area. The air is now clear of smoke and masks are no longer required. However, with the ever-changing wind patterns we could see smoke again in the Oxnard area. Despite the hurdles this growing region has faced the last few weeks we are picking for the first time today for the new season, and overall, quality looks good.

Blueberries:

Our Chilean blues are off to a slow start – being about 2 weeks delayed. Temperatures in our Chilean growing regions is warm – with Peralillo in the low 70s -80s. Our Oneal variety is declining in this region. Cauquenes will have warm temperatures in the 70s-80s, but we do expect some rainfall tomorrow. The harvest of the Camelia variety begins here this week. The Linares region has the warmest temperatures in the low 80s-90s with the main producing region here being Maule, and Duke being the main variety grown.

 

Florida:

A cooling trend moved in over the weekend with temperatures that have dipped down into the 60s and nighttime lows in the 30s, and will continue on for the majority of this week. Rain is on the horizon for this Friday, but temperatures are anticipated to heat up again over the weekend with temperatures in the high 70s low 80s. Quality among fruit looks great, with Florida Beauty 24-28 count, Radiance 20-24 count and Sensation slightly larger at 18-20 count. Labor in this region is plentiful – and a spike in volume is predicted for the 4th week of December.  

Weather Conditions

For up-to-date weather conditions in all of our growing regions, click on the region below. Wunderground.com is our go-to weather resource for fast and reliable weather updates. 

Santa Maria

Watsonville

Salinas

Mexico

Florida

Oxnard

Reaching Consumers

The California Strawberry Commission just released their annual acreage survey for strawberries planted in California.  The report shows that fall planted acres for the 2018 harvest is 27,804 total acres, a 6.5% decrease from 2017.  Each of the four major growing regions in California reported decreases, but the greatest decline is in Oxnard with over 1,000 less acres reported versus last year.  It is important to note that there are increases in volume expected from Mexico and Florida during this early season window.   

Additionally, even though acreage is showing a slight decline, overall volume for 2018 may be comparable to last year without the rare heavy spring rains, summer heat wave and depressed freezer market that occurred in 2017.  We are looking forward to a more normal year with the typical weather patterns.  Our California acreage was all planted on schedule this fall with minimal die-out and the plants already look great as they take hold and prepare for the 2018 harvest.  If you would like a copy of the complete acreage survey, please click here.  

Consumer Spotlight

Kathryn tips her hat to Cal Giant on our berry quality and sweetness. We have one of the most rigorous quality control standards in the industry, and do our best to supply our retail and foodservice partners top-notch fruit so consumers like Kathryn are happy, satisfied and smiling.

Pick of the Week

This Sand City Costco has Cal Giant strawberries on deck!

  

Send us your own "pick of the week" and we will feature it here!

Stay tuned for updates every week!
 

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