Strawberry Demand Record and Screwworm Data from Mexico
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**Increased strawberry demand in the fall and winter has driven summer plantings, which have reached a record high of 11,503 acres this year, up 1.3% from last year.
According to the California Strawberry Commission, this summer’s acreage represents about a quarter of the state’s total strawberry acreage.
Second-year acres, plants kept alive for more than one growing season, have increased nearly every year since 2021 due to rising cost of new plantings.
**Mexico has recorded 5,086 cases of flesh-eating screwworm in animals as of August 17, a 53% jump from the cases reported in July.
According to Reuters, updated numbers show 649 active cases.
Screwworms are parasites that eat warm-blooded animals alive and can devastate cattle herds and local wildlife.
Since 2023, screwworms have advanced northward from Central America, inching closer to the U.S.
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**The U.S. dairy industry is facing a possible shortage of its most important resource, milk cows.
The number of replacement heifers available as milk-producing cows has already fallen to a 20-year low.
Based on new CoBank research, replacements could fall even further over the next two years before recovery begins in 2027.
These declining heifer inventories could limit growth in the milk supply, a big concern for dairy processors.
