2021 is shaping up to be a big year for California strawberries.
The California Strawberry Commission’s acreage survey, released in December, showed that total California strawberry acreage for 2021 is 36,487 acres.
California strawberry acreage planted in the fall, which produces fruit during the traditional winter, spring and summer seasons, was reported at 28,407 acres, up 5.7% compared with the previous season.
By district, Salinas-Watsonville accounts for 43% of the state’s winter/spring/summer acreage, compared with 36% for Santa Maria, 20% for Oxnard and just 1% for Orange County/San Diego/Coachella.
California strawberry shipments are expected to peak in early May, with the state’s shippers projected to ship 10 million or more trays in a week, said Chris Christian, senior vice president of the California Strawberry Commission.
“It looks like we will be at 10 million trays per week in early May, but we can expect 9 to 10 million trays per week for several weeks,” she said.
About 15% of California’s strawberry output is exported, Christian said.
Organic importance
Total California organic strawberry acreage reported for 2021 is 4,684 acres, which is about 12.8% of total state acreage.
Christian said organic output reached a record in 2020, and acreage for 2021 is about the same as a year ago.
Organic acreage is holding its share as a percentage of the total acreage, she said.
Variety mix
For 2021, the report said the variety mix continues to evolve, but with more modest changes in yield than were experienced from
2014-18.
“Combined with warm, dry weather patterns common to La Niña conditions, there is a possibility of higher-than-projected volume in early spring (March) to early summer (June),” the report said.
Increased acres, higher yielding varieties, and optimum weather may provide an opportunity for supply to meet high levels of consumer demand that are expected through 2021, the report said.
Peak volume is projected to be greater than 2020, at 10 million trays per week in early May, the report said.
California strawberry acreage planted in the summer of 2021, which will produce during the fall season, is projected at 8,080 acres, according to the report. All of the summer planted acreage is in Oxnard and Santa Maria.
University of California varieties represent 61.3% of the state’s acreage, while proprietary varieties represent 36.8%, according to the report. Other publicly available varieties represent 0.2%.
