Strawberry Harvest Hits Fast Forward in California
California’s strawberry growers are seeing one of the earliest and heaviest spring harvests in recent memory. According to an Ag Alert report from the California Farm Bureau
, unusually warm weather combined with newer strawberry varieties has pushed production into overdrive across the state.
In Monterey County, temperatures climbed into the 80s during February, helping berries ripen weeks ahead of schedule. University of California Cooperative Extension strawberry adviser Mark Bolda said, “It’s been all about unseasonably warm temperatures early on. It bumped the season up by two or three weeks.”
The early harvest has translated into massive production gains. By early April, growers in the Watsonville-Salinas district had harvested nearly 2.9 million crates of strawberries, compared to just 230,000 during the same period in 2024.
Industry leaders also point to expanding use of newer strawberry cultivars developed through university and private breeding programs. Researchers continue working to improve resistance to soil-borne diseases that have challenged strawberry growers since the loss of methyl bromide field treatments.
California produces roughly 90% of the nation’s strawberries. Read more at https://www.agalert.com/california-ag-news/archives/may-6-2026/hot-temps-new-varieties-boost-strawberry-volumes/
