Living Legacy: The Story of Ventura County Agriculture

Summary

The Ventura County Farming Bureau was first established in 1914 and from there farming all across Ventura County has prospered. Because of the marine influenced plains, Ventura County holds a unique topography that is ideal for growing and producing a variety of crops. Due to the different topography the soil that covers the counties farms are more than 10 feet deep allowing amazing growth to all crops. With the ever-changing Southern California climate, the extreme temperature change creates fruitful grounds for growing strawberries. Ventura County farms are known to grow a multitude of crops, but the strawberries have proven to be the most prosperous. For years Ventura County lemons have taken over as the number 1 crop produced and sold, but in 2001 strawberry production and sales took over for the counties lemons.

The first commercial strawberry fields were created in 1957 and spread across Oxnard, Camarillo, and Somis, California. The growing process starts in the beginning of January and ends in mid-July with significant numbers of berries picked. Pickers in Ventura County do not just pick and evaluate, but they prepare and process the berries to be ready for supermarket shelves. Each picker puts the berries in a pot and each pot holds about 8 to 10 pounds of strawberries, each grower’s field in Ventura county averages about 5,000 pots an acre.