Posted: 07.07.2010

Hat’s off to Wisconsin’s cranberry industry! New research has been released 
from the UW-Madison that show’s the strong progress the industries made in 
adopting sustainable management practices to protect the environment over
the past two decades.
 
The University of Wisconsin-Madison survey interviewed 114 producers that manage
 about 70 percent of the state’s cranberry acreage. The questions revolved around their use
 of practices that bolster sustainability from an economic, environmental and social standpoint.
 
Jed Colquhoun, associate professor of horticulture, who surveyed 
producers in late 2009 said one of the biggest elements was nutrient management. 
He said that 73  percent of growers say they now follow a nutrient management plan,
 while 13 percent say they were doing that in 1989. Eighty-eight percent are basing
 fertilizer inputs on soil tests; fewer than 60 percent were doing that 20 years ago.
 
Colquhoun adds, “They’re not doing this because they have to,” he said. “They’re 
sincere about reducing environmental risk and also economic risk. 
Measurement allows for management. They now have real-time information 
on how to make their production decisions.”
 
Wisconsin’s 250 cranberry growers have more than 17,000 acres in 
production. Cranberries are the state’s leading fruit crop, valued at 
about $250 million in 2008.
 
Colquhoun says the survey offers both an inventory of current 
practices and a reference point for gauging further improvements in 
use of sustainable practices.
 
“Sustainability is a continuum and not an end point, and this survey 
suggests that cranberry growers have made great strides along this 
continuum in the past 20 years,” Colquhoun says “This survey sets a 
benchmark for assessing future improvements in environmental, social 
and economic metrics, as well as to identify areas of opportunity for 
the development of more grower-driven best management practices.”
 
Among other survey findings:
• Eighty-eight percent of growers use non-chemical practices, such as 
flooding and weather monitoring to predict insect life cycles, to 
control pests.
• Ninety-seven percent say they make spraying decisions based on pest 
thresholds rather than spraying by calendar. That’s up from 68 percent 
in 1989.
• Seventy-seven percent hire integrated pest management consultants to 
focus on biological and ecological approaches to pest management, up 
from 55 percent in 1989. Cranberry acreage is scouted for pests an 
average of 14 times per season.
• Growers maintain more than 6.3 acres of support lands, including 
natural wetlands and conserved wildlife habitats, for each acre of 
cranberry marsh.
• Ninety-eight percent of the state’s cranberry operations are family 
owned. The average operation has been producing for 39 years and 
involves two generations of family members.
• The state’s growers average two year-round employees and three 
seasonal employees. About 70 percent of year-round employees receive 
health and retirement benefits.
• Wisconsin’s cranberries travel an average of 35 miles from field to 
receiving facility.
• About 40 percent of growers either host or conduct research on their 
farms.
 
 

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