The strawberry crop in California is developing well. North to south in the state the plants look good, and production is going strong. The fresh market has been taking in a lot of fruit over the past few weeks. Pricing is somewhat lower than at this same time last year. Some growers have switched their fields to processing in the Oxnard district, but many are still in fresh and will likely switch in the next ten days. Posted prices for processing grade fruit seem stable right now as well. With heavy production expected in the months of May and June it is likely that capacity at the processing plants will be tested. There seems to be a lot of fruit going that direction in the next few weeks. With increased acres and better quality fields this year there should not be a shortage of processing grade fruit in the months to come.
