Keeping Cranberry Bogs Afloat
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 – Massachusetts cranberry farmers, facing one of the toughest growing seasons in recent history, received federal support last week to help keep the state’s bogs afloat.
The Agriculture Appropriations Bill that passed through the House last week included $460,000 for Massachusetts cranberry growers’ research and conservation and is currently awaiting Senate approval.
“These urgently needed conservation and research funds will make a major difference for our cranberry growers in their constant struggle to make ends meet and survive in their very competitive industry,” Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said in a released statement.
Massachusetts is the second largest producer of cranberries in the country. Last year Massachusetts growers produced 1.8 million barrels, according to Jeffrey LaFleur, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association. Wisconsin, the nation’s largest cranberry producer, grew 3.3 million barrels in 2004.
This year, LaFleur said, there has been a dramatic drop in cranberry crops, possibly the worst in 15 years. He said he thinks it is due in large part to strange weather patterns.
The severely cold winter with a large amount of snow and the dry summer led to a very tough growing season, according to Linda Burke, director of community relations for cranberry growers A.D. Makepeace Company of Wareham. There are other concerns.
“The number one issue that will determine the future of the industry in this state is the availability of water,” LaFleur said, citing the importance of both the quality and quantity of water to cranberry growers.
Under the bill, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service would receive $300,000 for finding ways to help conserve resources, like clean water, necessary for increased cranberry production. The service first started receiving federal aid for this purpose in 2002.
“From the standpoint of local and regional agriculture problems, these grants have had a big impact,” said Tom Bewick, national program leader for horticulture for the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture..
The agency creates conservation plans for all types of farmers but this money will fund positions that focus specifically on writing cranberry farm plans. These plans evaluate natural resources available to a specific grower and then recommend ways to best utilize those resources, such as maintaining a supply of clean water.
Once a farmer has a plan in place he or she is eligible for various United States Department of Agriculture cost sharing programs. Cranberry growers are interested in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, which will pay up to 75 percent of the cost of improvements to farming systems, such as replacing old equipment.
The remaining $160,000 will go to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Cranberry Experiment Station in East Wareham for research on cranberry growing practices. They study a range of topics such as pesticide use, crop disease, insect behavior and weather and water patterns.
According to LaFleur 70 percent of the nearly 400 Massachusetts cranberry growers, mostly located in Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth counties, have less than 20 acres. Many are farming only part time.
Burke applauded the federal government for putting some focus on the cranberry industry because, “attention usually falls to the larger commodities.”
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