June 30, 2023

HAPPY JULY 4TH!  Hope you have a great holiday weekend

Santa Maria:  We are now in peak volume here along the coastal region and the plants are producing some excellent fruit for us this summer.  We have come along way from those early storms and now are enjoying a normal summer harvest season.  Weather for the next ten days should remain mild with night time lows in the 50’s and day time highs in the mid 70’s and dipping into the high 60’s at times.  This weather pattern should help to sustain our peak volume for the next few weeks.

We are also focused on preparing for our fall crop which should come on nicely later this summer to extend our season into the year-round program we have worked hard to build over the last few years.  We can see progress already with some ranches and have included a photo for you.

Statewide strawberry volume is slowly catching up to previous years with weekly volume now running very similar to last year, but our statewide cumulative total is still behind the last two seasons as we head into July. Oxnard ultimately did not catch up to the last two seasons year-end volume, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the state does by year-end after such a harsh beginning.  At least we are now enjoying strong volume and quality as we head into the summer holidays.