August 2004

Oregon strawberry growers now eyeing fresher markets (The Vegetable Growers News, Aug. ’04). “For years, Oregon’s Willamette Valley had been one of the country’s largest producers of strawberries for the processing trade, with close to 19,000 harvested acres in 1957. But ever since then things have been slowly eroding as competition from California’s strawberry fields – and from other growing areas – have increased. This summer, fewer than 3,000 acres of strawberries were harvested in Oregon, the lowest since records have been kept starting in 1920. While ingredients users looking for premium product still demand Oregon berries bred for slicing and freezing and picked at the peak of maturity, many buyers opt for California fresh market berries when the price differential rises above 10 to 15 cents a pound. . . . Oregon’s signature strawberry, a processing variety called Totem, is not seen as a good fresh-market berry, mainly because it is too tart.” A grower “who began converting over to fresh market 15 years ago, said he can get three to four times the return when selling his berries fresh.”

The South Carolina Strawberry Industry is featured in The Strawberry Grower (NC Strawberry Assn., Aug. ’04). “Strawberry production in South Carolina has a fairly long history. Many communities had a matted-row producer as far back as the late 1950s.” . . . . In the mid-1980s, South Carolina benefited from the emphasis that NC State University began to put on the annual hill culture production system. . . . The industry in South Carolina began to grow as extension agents and suppliers began to spread the new technology. . . . Although a handful of farms in South Carolina have more than 20 acres of berries . . . the vast majority of South Carolina’s strawberries are raised on farms with less than 10 acres of production and are marketed directly to the consumer at numerous ‘strawberry sheds.’ . . . The Chandler variety was the mainstay of the industry in South Carolina and is still widely planted . . . Camarosa has supplanted some of the Chandler acreage in the Sandhills and Coastal Plain which have milder winters. . . . The average price of strawberries on farm is between $1.00 and $1.25 per pound . . . . Pre-picked fruit in ‘gallons’ sells for as much as $10.00 near urban areas.”

NC Legislature extends exemption (North Carolina Strawberry Assn e-mail newsletter 8/9/04). “The NC General Assembly has now decided to extend the agricultural exemption to sales tax to include plastic mulch and plant bed covers purchased by farmers, which were previously excluded. The change is effective October 1, 2004.

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