Harvest of both conventional and organic celery is getting underway in Oxnard, California. "Supplies are being partially interrupted by Fusarium disease in the field so they are still kind of light out of Oxnard," says Tom Deardorff, II of Deardorff Family Farms, noting that production generally starts out of Oxnard in early November and will stay there until June.
While the Fusarium will pressure the front end of the crop, this soil-borne disease is triggered by warmer temperatures and is expected to ease once the winter cooler weather comes in. It generally persists in November and into the first part of December and then, after disappearing over the winter, sometimes reemerges in the spring when warmer temperatures return.
Meanwhile, in northern California, some celery production continues, though that region is ahead of schedule. Overall, this means that the celery supply isn't particularly abundant at the moment.
Demand picking up
As for celery demand, it's starting to increase, particularly with Thanksgiving a few weeks away. "There's not a huge pull right now but people are lining up their orders going into the Thanksgiving pull," says Deardorff.
All of this is leaving pricing at a good level and trending towards becoming stronger given that demand will continue to increase going into the holidays though supply will likely not increase at the same rate. On organic celery, which is seeing a lot of the same patterns as conventional celery, the market is even higher. "Even with the economy being uneasy right now, there's still really strong demand for organic celery and we think that will continue to be a strong market," says Deardorff.
Demand is anticipated to dip somewhat after Thanksgiving but then pick up again as Christmas approaches. "The six-week period is a pretty good period for celery demand," says Deardorff.
For more information:
Tom Deardorff
Deardorff Family Farms
Tel: +1(805) 487-7801
https://www.deardorfffamilyfarms.com/