July 2021 - 8

High demand extends to berry transplants in California
By Ching Lee
California Farm Bureau Federation
Fueled by increased demand,
California farmers have devoted more
acreage to strawberries this year. But
limiting factors such as availability of
transplants and suitable land to grow
the crop will temper planting growth in
the state - and how quickly farmers can
react to spikes in sales.
Farmers are looking for more ground
to expand strawberry acreage, said
Mel Fernandez, a sales representative
for Lassen Canyon Nursery in Shasta
County, which sells strawberry
transplants to U.S. and foreign growers.
He noted he has heard of strawberries
being planted this year in areas that have
not been used for the crop in 10 to 15
years, which has led to increased orders
for transplants.
" This year for Lassen, we've got more
business than we know what to do with, "
he said.
California strawberry acreage climbed
to its highest level in five years, to 36,487
acres, up 3% from a year ago, according to
the California Strawberry Commission.
Every growing region in North America,
including California, Florida and Mexico,
increased plantings in response to higher
demand last year, commission President
Rick Tomlinson said.
About 80% of California strawberries
are sold fresh. The other 20% goes to
processing, largely as frozen berries,
much of which end up in food service,
which also buys 15% of fresh-market
strawberries. In the last year, retail sales
for both fresh and frozen strawberries
have been strong.
Consumer panels show strawberries as
being one of the fruits people purchased
more of during the pandemic - with
people who buy strawberries regularly
buying more and irregular consumers of
the berry becoming regular buyers.
" More and more people really
connect with strawberries, " Tomlinson
said. " To put it in some context,
strawberries are now the single largest
source of vitamin C from fresh fruit for
the American consumer. "
Not that there were no hiccups along
the way.
At the start of the pandemic lockdown
last year, Tomlinson said the strawberry
market collapsed, with losses topping
$60 million during the first 30 days. The
market largely stabilized by May, after
logistical issues and disruptions with
retailers were ironed out. Government
programs and foodbank purchases also
helped to stabilize the market, he added.
Tom Am Rhein, who grows
strawberries in Watsonville, said 2020
ended up being " a better year than we'd
seen in a while. " But he said that came
after years of struggling to balance
supply and demand.
California acreage does fluctuate, Am
Rhein said, but the increases tend to be
limited and move " very slowly, " in large
part because planning a strawberry crop
requires decisions to be made at least
a year in advance, due to land rotation
8 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
Liz Elwood-Ponce, left, and her brother Kenny Elwood, owners of Lassen Canyon Nursery
in Shasta County, look over a strawberry plant being grown as part of the company's
breeding program. Higher demand for strawberries has increased California acreage of
the crop, boosting sales of transplants. Photo: Lori Eanes
and preparation, and transplants that
must be ordered. Plus, with water issues
up and down the coast and " a very
limited microclimate where strawberries
can grow, " farmers cannot quickly add
acreage - though they've been increasing
production with higher-yielding
varieties, he said.
" That's really how the strawberry
industry would grow, " Am Rhein said. " It
would not be by expansion of acreage; it
would be by the productivity of the acres
that we have available to us. "
There's good reason the Monterey
variety, released by the University of
California in 2009, remains popular for
California farmers, said Mark Curtice,
who handles sales for Lassen Canyon
Nursery in Watsonville and Baja,
Mexico. The high-yielding variety yields
berries with " reasonably good flavor "
well into the fall, regardless of day length
or temperature. A main drawback, he
noted, is the plant's tendency to shoot
lots of runners, which draw energy from
the plant to produce berries, increasing
grower costs to cut the runners.
High productivity remains important,
Am Rhein said, and farmers also look for
varieties with disease resistance, because
they now have fewer chemical tools
to protect crops. He said farmers also
want a good-tasting berry that holds up
during shipping with good shelf life.
" Usually, it's really hard to find a
variety that has all those things, " said
Kenny Elwood, who co-owns Lassen
Canyon Nursery with his sister Liz
Elwood-Ponce.
Lassen Canyon maintains its own
breeding program, which has been
working on varieties with more flavor
and disease resistance, Elwood said,
though he noted the varieties may
produce 25% less fruit than traditional
UC varieties. Disease resistance has been
a main focus for the company because as
fumigation and chemical use becomes
more restricted, he thinks farmers will
place more importance on that trait.
Elwood said the company has begun
to sell a new variety called Sierra, and
Curtice said he knows two farmers who
may order half a million transplants
each. Most farmers, he said, " want to try
A Driscoll's strawberry plot near Watsonville, California. Photo: Gary Pullano
whatever's new every year. "
" Everyone's looking for any small
advantage they can have in the
marketplace, " he added.
Elwood said the nursery has managed
to keep up with farmer demand because
it typically produces extra transplants, in
case of production problems.
The transplants are produced using
tissue culture taken from a runner, or
shoot, off an original plant. This process
begins at company headquarters in
Redding, also home to a screen house
where the plants are further propagated.
From there, the plants are multiplied
in the company's foundation fields
in Manteca. The final grow-out takes
place in Siskiyou County, because the
region can provide the proper chilling
strawberry transplants need to give
farmers a good start once the plants are
in the ground, Elwood said.
With acreage increasing this year,
Fernandez said he wonders whether
demand for strawberries will continue
to rise as states begin to reopen from
the pandemic and people start to spend
money on vacations, concerts, outings
and other discretionary items.
At the strawberry commission,
Tomlinson noted consumption has
grown year over year, and people now
buy strawberries all year long, so he
thinks " these habits are here to stay. "
" It really does feel like this demand is
solid, " he said. VGN
A worker at a Driscoll's facility near Watsonville, California, conducts quality control
techniques on strawberries. Photo: Gary Pullano
Researchers in the public and private
sectors continue to evaluate new
strawberry varieties in California.
Photo: Gary Pullano
http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
July 2021

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