A Better than Expected Berry Season
A “better than expected” berry season is what is being reported by Gustavo Lopez of Helena Agri-Enterprises. I caught up with him yesterday…
“The price is holding up quite well compared to last season. We’re probably ranging around $14-15 price right now in April. Basically Oxnard is in its peak, coming down off its peak, and it’s going to transition to Santa Maria which they will peak in mid-May to the end of May and then it’ll go over to the Salinas area.”
With dry conditions, he says plant health is going to be key…
“Last time I checked, we were about half the rain of average, so it’s a lot lower than the last couple years. I think it’ll be mainly plant health, looking at salt issues. Products like Hydra-Hume humic acids, Liquid Chisel kind of push the salts below the root zone. That kind of thing is going to be very vital this year especially because of the lack of rain."
Pest pressures, including Lygus bug, are also top of mind. Often resistant to conventional chemicals, he says they’ve seen great response in controlling them via organic measures.
