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Cranberry producers expect average yield this year
2017 harvest at Elk Lake Cranberry Farm, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
A cranberry growing family expects more of an average yield this year. Mike and John Moss are third and fourth generation growers at Elm Lake Cranberry Farm near Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. John Moss says the fruit took a little longer to develop this year. “The last three years have been wetter years. Last year was actually amazing growing conditions. Across the whole state, we had record crops across the board. This year, it won’t be quite as good. We should still have decent crops, I think. It seems like overall, the maturing of the fruit is a little later this year than it has been.”
John & Mike Moss
He says last year’s record crop was almost 20% above average yield. John’s father Mike Moss tells Brownfield cranberries are a perennial crop, but they share many of the challenges of traditional row crop farmers. “There are a lot of similarities, you know, as far as how you plan ahead. We write a nutrient management plan and a pest management plan and that’s similar. The paperwork has doubled or tripled in the last thirty years.”
John Moss says growers are adjusting to new requirements to reduce the number of white berries. He says delivering too many white berries will lower the crop’s value. Mike Moss says that has delayed harvesting by as much as two weeks to make sure more of the berries turn red to satisfy consumer demands in the juice and craisin markets.
Elm Lake Cranberry Farm has been growing 10 varieties of cranberries for more than 100 years. They expect to send almost 50-thousand barrels of cranberries to their Ocean Spray cooperative.
Wisconsin is the top cranberry producing state in the nation.
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