US: Future of strawberry breeding secured?

The United States is the world’s largest producer of strawberries with the State of California having a 91 percent share in domestic production. This time of the year, supplies are mainly coming from the Oxnard region in Southern California. “It’s an average season that is pretty similar to last year. Warm temperatures make for good growing conditions with good supply,” said Charlie Staka with CBS Farms. Harvest in the Oxnard region started in January, but peak time is mid to late March. The Santa Maria growing area peaks in April-May and big supplies from Watsonville come in late June and early July.

According to Staka, prices are also similar to last season with an 8 1-lb container running at $14 - $16. “Last week, demand was good because of Valentine’s Day. This week, I expect prices to come down a little bit due to the post-holiday effect. As a result, in the next few weeks prices will either remain steady or go down slightly as the production volume is getting bigger. Demand is expected to pick up again by the end of March because of the Easter holiday,” said Staka. CBS’ strawberries are distributed along the US West Coast and into Canada.

One of the challenges the industry is facing is management changes at the UC Davis strawberry breeding program. The strawberry industry relies heavily on the University for the development of new varieties as UC Davis breeds more than half of the world’s strawberries. Although the University announced their continuation of the breeding program, the unknown factor is to what extent the changes will impact the industry. “I don’t expect a big disruption, but we will find out in the next few months to years,” said Staka.

CBS Farms was formed in 2011 out of Colleen Strawberries and Beach Street Farms. The companies joined forces to market their products together.

For more information:
Charlie Staka
CBS Farms
Email: Charlie@cbsfarms.com
www.cbsfarms.com