California strawberry plantings have increased in 2021. This follows the increase in 2020. Winter acreage is higher now than it was in 2018. In 2018 California saw a bumper crop of strawberries. In 2019 and 2020 weather conditions, along with other production problems, limited some of the volume in the state. 2020 also saw the best fresh market pricing in many years along with increased pricing of strawberries for processing. The question now is what type of year this will be in the state. Recent rains have helped the strawberry plants. It will be a while before we know what type of production we will see this season. Heat waves in the spring and summer of 2019 and again in 2020 took a toll on fruit production in some areas of the state. If good weather prevails this year as it did in 2018, the volume of fruit available should be strong. There are enough acres planted in the state this year to allow for this to happen.
