Recent News
May 20 is National Strawberry Picking Day!
May 19, 2023
Today, we honor the hardworking farmers who bring us fresh strawberries from farm to table.
National Picking Strawberries Day reminds us of the incredible journey that food takes from farm to table. It starts with dedicated farmers who work tirelessly to bring us fresh, nutritious food. Let's take a moment to thank them for their dedication and hard-working efforts!
We also want to thank all our Strawberry Center employees for picking Cal Poly’s delicious strawberries!
MS students Mary Steele and Cooper Calvin present at workshop
May 17, 2023
Congratulations to Center Master's students Cooper Calvin and Mary Steele for winning registration awards at the 68th Annual Conference on Soilborne Plant Pathogens and the 53rd California Nematology Workshop, both held in Watsonville this past March!
Mary spoke on the effect of wheat cover crop on Macrophomina root rot and rhizosphere microbiome in strawberry while Cooper presented on black root rot complex and pathogenicity of Pythium spp. in California strawberries, both important pathogens that heavily impact strawberry fruit development.
We were also excited to see former Master's student Yu-Chen Wang in her new element as a Plant Pathology Advisor at the UCCE Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito counties office in Watsonville, CA!
What is the most popular strawberry cultivar grown in California?
May 16, 2023
It depends on what year(s) you’re interested in and if you’re talking about public or proprietary cultivars. For example, if you’re talking about 2022, ‘Monterey’ was the most popular public cultivar, grown on 10,003 acres or 33.4% of the total acreage grown in the state.
Read full story in our NEWEST BLOG POST.
Long-time student assistant Anthony Bella defending MS thesis
May 10, 2023
We are extremely proud of long-time Center student employee Anthony Bella! After much hard work, he will be defending tomorrow (Thursday) his Master's Thesis titled "Optimizing Irrigation as a Strategy to Reduce Nitrogen Inputs in Central Coast Broccoli Production". We have been lucky to have Anthony working with us as a student assistant for 3 years now. We are excited to see what his future holds!
CAFES Master's Thesis Defense, MS. in Agriculture, Crop Science
Anthony Bella
Thursday, May 11, 2:10 p.m.
In person: Building 83, Ist Floor Conference Room, Cal Poly campus
Zoom ID: 846 8598 0407
Senior VP for California Strawberry Commission Chris Christian gives lecture at Cal Poly
May 9, 2023
Chris Christian (Senior Vice President, California Strawberry Commission) gave a lecture (19 April 2023) at Cal Poly on "Insights on the North American Strawberry Market". Our students are really getting a front row seat for the strawberry industry by listening to such seasoned professionals like Chris, who has 20 years of experience.
"I was honored to meet with the students at the Strawberry Center, who represent the future success of our industry", Chris mentioned in talking about her visit to campus. Thank you Chris for making the trip to Cal Poly and imparting your extensive strawberry market/marketing knowledge and experience to our students!
View Chris' full presentation on our Center YouTube channel @ https://youtu.be/2PpalD_p-XA
Strawberry Center seeking Research Entomologist
May 5, 2023
The Strawberry Center at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo invites applications for a Strawberry Research Entomologist. The Strawberry Center’s mission is to increase the sustainability of California’s $3.1 billion strawberry industry through applied research and education. The Strawberry Center is closely aligned with the California strawberry industry and receives significant financial and advisory support from the California Strawberry Commission. The successful applicant is expected to develop a strong applied research program addressing applied entomological problems for the strawberry industry.
✭ See full job posting: https://www.calpolycorporationjobs.org/postings/1943
Director Gerald Holmes interviewed by The Packer
May 5, 2023
Director Gerald Holmes discussed our Center's mission, student engagement and research activities in a recent interview published in The Packer, a leading online news source in the produce industry reporting on industry updates, consumer trends, retail operations and more.
"Industry innovation flourishes at the Cal Poly Strawberry Center"
Check it out! https://tinyurl.com/Holmes-packer
Ryan Harrison and Rick Taggesell (Red Dog/Mar Vista Farms) give joint AEPS 450 lecture
May 2, 2023
Ryan Harrison and Rick Taggesell (Mar Vista Farms, Santa Maria, CA, middle and left respectively in photo below) gave a joint lecture at Cal Poly on "Introduction to Strawberry Production in Santa Maria CA". We have some of the world's best strawberry farmers in our backyard and hearing directly from them is something you can't get anywhere else in the world.
View full presentation on our Center YouTube channel @ https://youtu.be/hNaZCRQjhFE
Thanks to Ryan and Rick for making the trip to Cal Poly and imparting your unique strawberry production knowledge and experience to our students!
First harvest of the season: Fresh off the plant and into your hands!
Apr 28, 2023
Last week marked the start of our 2023 strawberry season and we couldn't be more excited! Shown here is Drew Summerfield, our Farm Manager, holding the very first picked clamshell. Our strawberries are now available for purchase (in very limited supply) in stores like Vons in San Luis Obispo, Campus Market, Village Market, Grand Ave Market and Cal Poly Meats. So be sure to pick up a clamshell!
Drew Summerfield leads tour for high school students
Apr 25, 2023
We had the pleasure of hosting Center student alum Beth Noel's Intro to Agriculture class (Frontier High School, Bakersfield, CA) for a Strawberry Center tour, led by farm manager Drew Summerfield! These amazing students not only visited the Center, but also the Cal Poly Dairy, Meats and the Swine Units. They were treated to a full campus tour as well, which was led by the CAFES (College of Ag) Ambassadors. As Beth put it: "It was awesome to apply the information the students have learned in class to a real life scenario like the Strawberry Center!" It was an enriching experience for the students and as always fulfilling for us to be a part of educating the next generation about agriculture and the strawberry industry.
