The California strawberry fresh market continues to run ahead of the past four years in total volume shipped year to date. The volume from the south districts in California is now behind where it was last year, but the volume being generated in the northern districts far exceeds last year’s volume. The crop is trending about a month ahead in those districts. The current rainy weather should slow the crop down a little as some of that fruit may need to be diverted to processing for a few days after the rain is over. Fresh market pricing has strengthened in the past week, and growers that are not in the processing market already will likely stay in the fresh market for now.
