“There were a million more trays picked last week compared to the same week a year ago, yet we remain several million trays behind year-to-date. Welcome to California agriculture!” So says Dan Crowley, senior vice president of sales for Gem-Pack Berries, LLC., of the current strawberry season. “A warmer than normal winter changed our production profile from a peak to a plateau with sustained high volume over additional weeks,” he says.

To help supply berries year-round, the grower-shipper maintains crop redundancy with overlapping crops during the winter from Oxnard, Baja, Central Mexico, and Florida. This helps lessen the impact from weather events. As the crop transitions into spring, Central Mexico and Baja continue, while the new crop begins harvesting from Oxnard and Santa Maria. As summer approaches, the crops begin to wind down in Oxnard and later in Santa Maria and transition into Watsonville/Salinas through September, then transition back down to a newly planted fall crop from Oxnard to complete the annual cycle.

To read the full article, please visit : More strawberry supply amidst Salinas-Watsonville peak. Published on July 22, 2025.