April 20,2018-
Strawberries hurt by cold/wet weather
Cold weather flowed by rain in March hurt strawberry production in the Santa Maria district this year say shippers. The district has produced 7.6 million flats so far this season as of April 20- down from 9.6 million this time last year.Info is from the National Berry Report.
Strawberry acreage in there Santa Maria area is down 3.24% this year to around 8500 acres, about 30% of the state’s acreage .
The California Strawberry Commission publishes its annual survey for the year that says: “Reported California strawberry acreage for 2018 continues the trend of increasing fruit production on decreasing planted acreage. Over the past three years, planted acreage has declined by 13% while total volume has increased by 6%, resulting in two consecutive years of record fruit production. In 2018, reported acreage continues the shift to the highest yielding varieties. With optimum weather, weekly shipment volume in summer and fall months is projected to equal or surpass 2017 totals. Total California strawberry acreage reported for 2018 is 33,791, with organic acreage maintaining a proportional share at 11.8%.”
The Santa Maria district shipped 66.7 million trays in 2017- that’s up from 60.8 million trays in 2016.
SLO jobless rate below 3 percent
The unemployment rate in the San Luis Obispo County was 2.9 percent in March 2018, down from a revised 3.2 percent in February 2018, and below the year-ago estimate of 3.8 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 4.2 percent for California and 4.1 percent for the nation during the same period.SLO County sported 1800 more non-farm jobs this March than last.
Slide costs big bucks
One local visitors bureau commissioned an economic impact study that showed Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties would lose nearly $500,000,000 from the Hwy 1 closure due the huge rock slide.
Marine Heatwave Over
Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that “Ocean conditions off the Pacific Northwest seem to be returning to normal after a three-year spike in water temperature.
It’s promising long-term news for fishermen who are looking ahead in the short term to yet another year of low salmon returns.
A report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlined the latest ocean observations for the organization that sets salmon catch limits off the West Coast. The extended marine heatwave of the past few years has been nicknamed “the Blob.”
The same blob has consistently blocked storms from dropping down to California.
Nurseries feed pent-up demand / Search for employees
Ag Alert reports that Randy Baldwin, president and chief operating officer of San Marcos Growers, a wholesale nursery in Santa Barbara says he was surprised that “an amazing number of people didn’t even know what the word”horticulture”” meant.”
That’s important to Baldwin and other nursery operators, because many employees are beginning to retire.
“I’ve had good retention, but a lot of (people) are aging out,” Baldwin said. “I have a lot of 61- to 65-year-old people in key positions at the nursery.”
So he’s looking to the horticulture programs at Santa Barbara City College and Mount San Antonio College, as well as the Cal Poly campuses in San Luis Obispo and Pomona, hoping to attract their interest.
Weather has affected demand for plants that save water this spring, he says.
Succulent plants are a “major rage,” Baldwin said, having gone from 2 percent of his inventory to 30 percent. He considers California’s periodic droughts to be a double-edged sword.
“Drought can be a salesperson for us, but it still dampens sales when you don’t have the water to water plants,” Baldwin said.
He said he’s not a fan of the term “drought tolerant.”
“A drought for California means no rainfall in the winter months, but really what people are thinking in their minds are plants that actually can go through a summer without regular irrigation,” Baldwin said. “There’s a number of people trying to come up with new terms like ‘summer dry’ or ‘climate appropriate.’ But for the layperson, ‘drought tolerant’ seems to be what they key in on.
“I think people are thinking differently now,” he said. “They know California doesn’t have all the water in the world.”
United adds second flight to SLO-Denver
The Tribune reports “United Airlines launched a second daily flight last week from San Luis Obispo to Denver International Airport, part of the airline’s push to expand the number of Central Coast travelers it serves.
The new, mid-day flight arrives at San Luis Obispo from Denver at 12:58 p.m. and returns to the Mile High City at 1:35 p.m.
United also started use of larger aircraft on existing flights, adding up to 360 additional passengers a day at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, “the largest increase ever for San Luis Obispo,” the airline said in a statement.”