Salinas Valley Shipments May be Down Some this Year

Salinas Valley Shipments May be Down Some this Year

Following a cold and rainy winter playing havoc with crop plantings and growth, spring vegetables and berries are taking off from California’s Salinas Valley with big volume in the weeks ahead.

Coastline Family Farms of Salinas, CA has wrapped up desert vegetable shipments such as broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces and herbs from Brawley, CA. Now the company is focusing on spring loadings from the Central Coast.

Salinas broccoli and cauliflower shipments are underway and moving into good volume.

Salad Savoy Corp., of Salinas, had nearly a week of planting delays in December. The company grows kale, chard and cauliflower in Yuma, AZ during the winter and in Soledad, CA in the spring.

Berry Shipments

Naturipe Berry Growers of Salinas grows mostly strawberries on 1,300 around Salinas, plus other places in California and Mexico.

Rains in California resulted in virtually nothing being harvested early in the season for strawberries, but more favorable weather has harvest and shipments back on track. Volume has been good leading up to Mother’s Day set for May 12th.

Recent seasons has seen record setting California strawberry shipments, but this year volume is expected to be down a little.

Naturipe is expecting more normal shipments this season averaging around 8,000 to 10,000 trays an acre.

Salina Valley vegetables and Watsonville berries – grossing about $4800 to Chicago.