February 22, 2021

Strawberries

Oxnard: 

Weather: Cool weather continues to slow the ripening process. 

Quality:  Good quality with nice shape, sheen and taste. Coloring is at 95-100%.  Some mite pressure is being seen in the area due to the dry weather, but growers are working hard to combat this.

Volume: Production is expected to peak in weeks 13-15.

Pack Counts: Conventional: 14-18 ct.

Santa Maria:

Quality: There's been good quality with some green shoulders due to colder weather. There are minimal issues seen in the field. 

Volume: All stages of fruit and plenty of flowers can be seen throughout the fields. We just need some warm weather to ripen, which will bring an increase in volume. 

Pack Counts: Conventional: 16-18 ct. / Organic: 14-16, 20-22 ct. depending on variety.

Mexico:

Quality: There's been good quality with green shoulders due to cooler nights, some bruised fruit and decay.

Volume: Steady

Pack Counts: Conventional: 18-28 ct.

Florida:

Quality: There is a lot of decay in the field due to rain last week. Crews are working hard to keep the plants clean and encourage high quality packed fruit. 

Volume: Continued warm rains through the weekend, compounded by increased pestolopsis pressure is effecting the entire area. Growers no longer expect a spike in volume to round out the season. Rather, production is expected to remain steady as-is for the next 5 weeks. 

Pack Counts: Conventional: 13-14, 18-20 ct. depending on variety.

Blueberries

Mexico

Quality: Good quality with good size, bloom, flavor and firmness for both organic and conventional blueberries. 

Volume: Volume is down slightly but will begin to increase weeks 10 and 11. 

South America:

Quality: Arrival quality has been mixed with occasional poor quality, the majority of which is due to major delays with vessels, ports, and customs.

Volume: Volume is decreasing as the season is wrapping up in Chile by mid-March. 

Oxnard

Quality: Good quality that is firm and with good bloom. There is some redback in the pack and variable sizing due to weather issues in recent weeks. 

Volume: Production has been increasing as the growers begin harvesting ranch blocks that were not as badly affected in the freeze from a few weeks ago. 

Florida:

Harvest: Growers expect to begin a light first harvest next week. 

Raspberries

Mexico:

Quality: Growers are still monitoring broken and unevenly ripe fruit due to colder nights. Packs continue to stay clean due to the diligence of the growers.

Volume: Steady. 

Blackberries 

Mexico:

Quality: Good quality with sweet, large fruit. 

Volume: Steady.