March 15, 2021

Strawberries

Oxnard: 

Weather: Last week’s rain showers brought over a half inch of rain to most fields. The local hills at a low elevation of 1800 feet were snow capped as of last Thursday. A significant hail storm hit Oxnard for a second time on Friday night, causing leaf shattering, some flower damage, and approx. 10-15% of damage to the fruit. 

Quality:  Last week's harvest looks good for the most part; seeing some discoloration on the fruit that sat on the plastic mulch where the water has puddled. Cool temperatures have been preventing the fruit from fully ripening.

Today, crews will be getting into the hail damaged fields to begin cleanup and get a full assessment of what damage the hail may have caused. 

Volume: *Hail assessment pending; steady increase in volume for the next 4-5 weeks. 

Pack Counts: 14-16 ct. 

Santa Maria:

Weather: Last week was cool, windy, and wet. Rain started late Tuesday night and continued into early Thursday morning with scattered showers forecasted throughout today. Most ranches saw close to .50” of rain with some reporting up to .75” and hail throughout the valley.  

Quality: Strawberries seem to be holding up well post-rain events. Growers are seeing some minor water damage around but nothing major, roughly 10-15% damage for now on most ranches. Organic Fall Crop (under tunnels) looks good. Pack looks good with nice shape and a light red color.

Volume: Production will be flat this week due to rain clean up and cold temperatures. The plants look good. Nice flowers and green fruit sets are everywhere, just need some favorable weather. We will see big jumps in production at the end of March with a big increase of volume through April.

Pack Counts: Conventional: 15-18 ct.; Organic: 12-14 ct.

Mexico:

Quality: Quality is good with occasional overripe crop and bruising. With increased temperatures, size will be dropping.

Pack Counts: Conventional: 24-28 ct.; varies depending on location and variety

Florida:

Quality: Very good with the occasional bruising and very little decay.

Volume: The season is expected to wrap up by the end of the month.

Blueberries

Mexico

Quality: Very good with good size, bloom, flavor, and firmness on both organic and conventional product. The only minor defects present is a small percentage of attached blossom and redback berries. 

Volume: Production is ramping up in both conventional and organic fields.

Oxnard

Quality: Great quality with firm berries and good bloom. Growers are reporting larger, more uniform fruit size as well. There are some minor defects in the pack, such as redback, flower remains, and inconsistent size.  

Volume: Production has been increasing as growers get into new blocks. There's a forecasted volume increase in week 12, with week 13 expected to be the peak week for the season. 

Central Valley, CA

Harvest Status: One organic grower is forecasting that they will begin field-packing organic blueberries around week 11. This will be in very light volume before the rest of the farms start mid-April.

Florida:

Harvest Status: Harvest of light volume from early producing fields will begin this week. Volume will pick up in early April. 

Georgia:

Harvest Status: Blueberry growers are projecting a start date of April 10th. Georgia volume will peak in late-April / early-May.

South America:

Harvest Status: Our Chilean blueberry growers are finished for the season. The final containers for the season are now on the water. 

Quality: Recent container arrivals have been mixed with occasional fair and poor-quality lots. 

Raspberries

Mexico:

Quality: Quality is good with only occasional overripe/soft berry. 

Volume: Production remains steady for the next 3 – 4 weeks. 

Blackberries 

Mexico:

Quality: Quality is good with occasional red cell and overripe berries. 

Volume: Harvests continue to be light.