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Cranberries: United States
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Cranberries are Wisconsin's No. 1 fruit crop in terms of acreage and value. The business provides 7,000 jobs and has a $350 million impact, McCown said, adding that cranberry acreage has increased 30 percent in the past five years. There is greater product competition from the United States and abroad. As a result, competition has cut the gross income per acre to about $4,000.
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The majority of cranberries are harvested between September and October, and occurs in one of two ways. By far the most common is wet or water harvest. The beds are flooded and the fruit is "beaten" off the vine using a specialized harvester. The floating fruit is then corralled and loaded onto trucks for delivery to a receiving station. Wet harvested fruit is used for processed cranberry products like juice and sauce. Dry harvested fruit is "combed" from the vines using a mechanized picking machine.
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A small percentage of cranberries are dry harvested. This process uses mechanical pickers, resembling lawn mowers with comb-like conveyer belts that pick the berries and carry them to attached burlap bags. These bags are emptied into bins and delivered to fresh fruit receiving stations where they are graded and screened based on their color and ability to bounce (soft berries will not bounce). Dry harvested berries are sold as fresh fruit
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Uncle Sam estimates that 649 million pounds of cranberries will be produced in the United States this year, up 5 percent from 2004. Wisconsin is expected to be the leader in the cranberry harvest, with 367 million pounds, followed by Massachusetts with170 million. Oregon, New Jersey and Washington are the other major cranberry players.
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The United States is a net importer of cranberries with Canada being the primary supplier. The United States imported a total of 79,524 metric tons (MT) of cranberries in 2006 valued at nearly $197 million. Canada supplied 62,637 MT valued at $100 million.
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The United States produced 675 million pounds of cranberries in 2006, valued at $251 million. More than half of the nation’s cranberries are produced in Wisconsin followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.
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