NEWNow you can hearken to Fox Information articles!
CARVER, MASSACHUSETTS – It is peak season for cranberry farmers in southeastern Massachusetts. The Bay State ranks second behind Wisconsin in cranberry manufacturing throughout the U.S.
“Massachusetts has an extremely sturdy cranberry business,” says Karen Cahill, deputy govt director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association.
She tells FOX {that a} 2023 financial examine confirmed a $1.7 billion contribution to the state’s financial system and help of practically 6,400 jobs within the space.
However one cranberry farmer within the state says it is changing into tougher to develop in Massachusetts.
FARMAGEDDON: TRUMP’S TRADE WAR AND SHUTDOWN ARE CRUSHING THE HEARTLAND
Jarrod Rhodes, Edgewood Bogs, works alongside crews to reap this yr’s cranberries. (Chelsea Torres)
Jarrod Rhodes, a fourth-generation cranberry farmer in Carver, Massachusetts, produces 50,000 barrels – or 5 million kilos – of cranberries a yr on his household farm. His household based Edgewood Bogs LLC within the early Nineteen Forties. The Rhodes launched Cape Cod Choose in 2009, the place they course of a portion of their very own fruit for the frozen retail market, he mentioned.
However rising costs and altering climate patterns are including stress.
“It sort of all provides up, and it turns into much more costly to develop right here versus Wisconsin or Canada,” Rhodes mentioned.
Cahill added, “Massachusetts is an costly place to do enterprise generally, pushed by excessive prices for labor, utilities, and actual property.”
DROUGHT CONDITIONS LEAVE PUMPKIN FARMERS WITH EMPTY FIELDS AND SMALLER CROPS
She additionally says one key distinction is the scale of Massachusetts in comparison with Wisconsin alone.
“The size in Wisconsin is considerably bigger – greater than double the acreage in Massachusetts – and doing something at scale tends to make it cheaper,” she mentioned.
With these pressures in thoughts, Rhodes turned to a state program to retire and restore greater than 30 acres of older bogs.
“The property was in misery and it wanted to be rebuilt,” he says.
Cranberry bathroom in Carver, Massachusetts (Chelsea Torres)
The state’s Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) runs a cranberry bathroom program that converts retired bogs again to native wetlands.
Over the previous decade, DER has restored a number of unprofitable bogs, together with the Eel River Headwaters Restoration. DER’s website says Atlantic white cedar has rebounded, wetlands now cowl former farm surfaces, and river herring have returned upstream.
This previous, unprofitable bathroom will grow to be a wetland within the Spring of 2026. (Chelsea Torres)
Rhodes knew of an unprofitable bathroom and utilized for this system, which is funded by state and federal grants.
“We determined to not rebuild this however take the cash and purchase a greater property,” he mentioned.
The Rhodes now farm much less acreage, however the retired bathroom might be completely protected as wetland, and the household is investing the proceeds in higher-yielding fields.
DER describes the strategy as a “inexperienced exit technique,” during which households such because the Rhodes are compensated by restoration grants and dialog easements to transform bogs to wetlands.
SQUEEZED SOYBEAN FARMERS AS COSTS RISE
Krista Haas of DER mentioned land have to be legally protected earlier than building begins.
“This locations a deed restriction on the land, which restricts sure actions similar to growth,” Haas mentioned. “Conservation easements are sometimes completed by the USDA Pure Assets Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) Program.”
The state’s Division of Ecological Restoration says that is the primary restoration venture, Eel River Headwater close to Plymouth. (State of Massachusett’s Division of Ecological Restoration)
As extra initiatives take form, Rhodes mentioned many growers are contemplating the identical path. Some are nearing retirement, and younger generations are “not as ,” he mentioned. The Rhodes’ wetland restoration is scheduled for completion in spring 2026.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
DER’s govt director Beth Lambert mentioned the company’s objective is to revive 1,000 acres over the following 10 to fifteen years.
