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Farm Events: |
Farm News: Cranberry Research Gets Good NewscommentsPosted: 10.06.2010
The harvest of Wisconsin's cranberry crop is just getting underway - and the crop looks great!
Heidi Dobbs of Gaynor Cranberry Company in Wisconsin Rapids, told Pam Jahnke that they're just three-four days into their cranberry harvest. "The cranberry tells us when it's time!" Dobbs told Jahnke, "It just depends on the vine varieties you have, the sugar, the color - but in general they're usually ready to go the first week of October."
Dobbs said that growers have to also be aware of what processors need - that can influence how quickly the harvest unfolds too. Gaynor Cranberry Company is on the "Cranberry Highway" - highway 54 outside of Wisconsin Rapids - a major artery through the cranberry producing fields.
Dobbs says they've got about 200 acres of actual producing bogs, with about 2,000 acres of support acreage like woods surrounding them. She guessed that their yields will be around 250 barrel of fruit per acre - definitely a good crop.
For Wisconsin cranberry growers - the good news doesn't stop at the harvest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Wisconsin four major grants to look at different research projects in the state for the cranberry industry.
Tom Lochner, executive director of the Wisconsin Cranberry Growers, said the grants will specifically help Wisconsin growers manage some of the risk elements the face with weather. He told Pam Jahnke, "Our frost events are much more severe in Wisconsin then what east coast growers face. So we need to generate some data on what Wisconsin growers can do to protect themselves."
Lochner said another portion of the grants awarded will be concentrated on a new web site to circulate information about the industry - and unique products incorporating Wisconsin cranberries. The grant will be coordinated through the Cranberry Museum, Incorporated. Lochner said it will develop a virtual Wisconsin cranberry market place where consumers can purchase all kinds of goods from fresh fruit through to specialty products that use Wisconsin cranberries. Cranberry Museum, Incorporated operates the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center in Warrens. "The Discovery Center will administer that site, " Lochner says.
Lochner tells Jahnke that there were about 1,00 new acres of cranberry production started this spring - but - it will take another two-three years before those growers see their first fruit. Beds are usually laid out and worked on during the spring and summer - freeing up growers for all their fall harvest duties.
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