CROP LOOKS BERRY GOOD IN OXNARD.

Byline: ERIC LEACH Staff Writer

OXNARD -- Even in November, the fields of Ventura County are producing a good supply of strawberries, adding a fresh splash of red to brighten up the season.

California produces nearly 90 percent of the strawberries grown in the United States, with a value of more than $1 billion a year, and strawberries are Ventura County's largest crop, representing about 30 percent of the state's total strawberry harvest.

When strawberry production shifts south at this time of year, the county's production becomes more significant.

As of the end of October, the state's growers had produced nearly 132 million trays of fresh strawberries, compared with about 129million at the same time last year, and local farmers had produced about 40million of those trays, compared with about 33.5 million at the same time in 2005.

``It's a big increase in Oxnard,'' said Carolyn O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for the California Strawberry Commission. ``We are ahead in the number of trays shipped, but we have to wait to see how the weather holds out.''

Oxnard has a usually mild coastal climate that is good for growing strawberries almost all year long, but even there, strawberry production can be hurt by extreme heat and cold or by heavy or prolonged rain.

There was record heat in the 90s earlier this week in Oxnard, where farmers responded by giving their fields extra irrigation to prevent damage, and there could be rain soon.

Until this past week, California strawberries were being grown in the Monterey County area, but the rain in Northern California ended production there, so the fall harvest shifted south.

Russell Blades, a manager for Underwood Family Farms in the Tierra Rejada Valley, has already planted strawberries he expects to begin harvesting in February, and is now selling fresh California berries grown closer to the coast.

``We're getting them in from Oxnard, so they're fresh,'' Blades said. ``Any time you can get California strawberries, they are good.''

But weather the past couple of years has held some surprises for Ventura County's strawberry producers.

In 2005, the county was pounded by near-record rains that did almost $25 million in damage to the strawberry crop.

And this year, late rains in March and April cut production by 2 million trays during what should have been the peak of the spring harvest.

In both cases, strawberry production rebounded once the rains ended.

In 2005, the value of the county's strawberry crop dropped nearly 10 percent to about $328 million from the all-time record of about $363 million in 2004, even though 32.8 million trays were harvested in 2004 compared with 38.8 million in 2005.

The numbers show that prices can go down when production is up.

The value of the annual crop depends on supply and demand.

David Buettner, the county's chief deputy agricultural commissioner, said so far weather conditions have been relatively good for the county's fall crop.

It has only been in the past decade or so that Ventura County farmers have been producing both the main spring crop and smaller fall harvest.

``It's a good thing for the consumer,'' Buettner said, ``making the California crop available almost any time you want berries.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color -- ran in Simi edition only) Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark sells strawberries on Friday. Rains up north shifted the harvest south to Oxnard.

(2 -- color -- ran in Simi edition only) As of the end of October, the state's growers had produced nearly 132million trays of fresh strawberries.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer