Graduation Year

2023

Date of Submission

12-2022

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Matthew Magilke

Abstract

How efficient is the strawberry market really? The state of California produces over 80% of strawberries in the U.S., with peak strawberry season lasting from January to June. However, are farmers really picking strawberries at the most efficient times? Current strawberry prices are highly seasonal. Strawberry prices are the lowest around the months of May and June when the conditions are the most optimal for strawberry harvests. Towards the winter months, strawberry prices increase as harvests become less efficient. On the surface this sounds like an effective system. Colder seasons are rewarded with higher prices to offset their lower quantity produced and warmer seasons are rewarded with higher quantities produced to offset the lower prices. With the advent of climate change and more extreme weather events, however, this paper presumes that farmers have not adapted their supply models to the increasing influence of extreme weather (more specifically, extreme temperature) events. If the likelihood of extreme weather events happening was taken into consideration, would farmers prefer to pick and sell their strawberry crops at a different time of year? In this paper, we will be investigating two California areas, one in the North (Oxnard) and one in the South (Salinas) to determine if and how picking patterns should change for these areas if extreme temperature events are taken into consideration.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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