After a wet fall and warm, sunny days in the first three months of this year, the Bay Area’s 2022 strawberry crop was exceptionally promising, growing earlier and faster than usual. However, rains destroyed 80 percent of the season’s first crop.
The Bay Area strawberry crop looked promising, which was a pleasant surprise for Javier Zamora, owner of JSM Organics in Watsonville. And then the spring rains came. Now, more than 80 percent of the crop has rotted.
“It’s a total loss of income that we had really been expecting,” Zamora said, referring to the work he and his team did during the winter months while planting and tending to the crop.
"We kept borrowing money to keep our payroll up. The first big sale we were going to make, we lost," said the resident of neighboring Santa Cruz County.
Strawberries in the Bay Area are typically planted in November and the first major crop begins producing in late March or early April.
Now, the first two weeks of the Bay Area strawberry harvest, when berries typically fetch their highest price, have been lost. Although the damaged plants will eventually reproduce, it's a huge blow to growers.
«The first strawberries: the prices are incredibly good. Right now we can sell a box for between $34 and $36. But in July we will sell the boxes for between $16 and $18 because there are too many strawberries available at that time, and there are other fruits on the market.»
Thirty minutes away in Salinas, Rigoberto Bucio, owner of Bucio Organic Farms, says 50 to 60 percent of his strawberry crop has been destroyed, costing him about $15,000.
And it's not just the berries. Bucio said much of his latest lettuce crop has also been damaged.
"Changes in temperature, such as cold and rain, turn lettuce white and make it difficult to sell," Bucio said.
Rigoberto, who has been farming for more than 10 years and sells most of his crops to wholesalers, said he is stressed about how the rest of the seasons will turn out. He also stressed that farming is becoming increasingly complicated due to the climate.
Zamora said all farms in the area have been affected by the rains. Large conglomerates, however, have insurance policies and deeper pockets, which mitigate the impact when crops are lost. It is a safety net that small, family-run farms like his do not have.
It is worth noting that the financial ups and downs experienced by producers are accompanied by a roller coaster of emotions.
"People hear about farmers losing their farms, but they don't hear much about the mental health and stress they go through," she said.
In spite of everything, Zamora will not leave his farm.
"I'm not going to give up," he said. "I wouldn't do anything else. It's so beautiful to see people enjoying the vegetables we grow."
JSM Organics products can be found at the Diablo Valley Farmers Market in Walnut Creek on Saturdays and at the Fort Mason and Kensington Farmers Markets on Sundays.
With information from Bay City News
You may be interested in: California strawberries, grown by indigenous hands
