Cranberry growers see a bumper crop

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, November 26, 2003

ILWACO — After years of disappointing harvests, cranberry growers such as Malcolm McPhail say they’re thrilled by this year’s bounty.

"We went four years in the red. This is the first year we’ve crawled out of it," said McPhail, who harvested 7,500 100-pound barrels of cranberries off his Long Beach Peninsula bogs. "I’d take another (harvest) just like it next year."

McPhail, owner of CranMac Farm Inc., estimated the total crop on the southwest Washington peninsula at nearly 60,000 barrels — by his count, the best yield in at least six years.

To the north, farmers in the Grayland area of southern Grays Harbor County picked another 110,000 barrels. The crop could bring $5 million into both counties.

"It’s one of the better yields we’ve had in recent years," said Kim Patten, a Washington State University horticulturist who researches cranberry farming on the coast.

Cranberry prices aren’t finalized until about 18 months after harvest, so it will be a while before growers know how much they’ll make off this year’s crop.

Ocean Spray, a cranberry cooperative, is expected to pay $26.50 per barrel for the 2002 crop, McPhail said, surmising that this year’s crop could command prices as high as $30 a barrel.

Ocean Spray had sales of $1.28 billion last year. It is owned by about 800 cranberry growers in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Canada, as well as 126 grapefruit growers in Florida.

Prices peaked around $60 per barrel in 1995 before plummeting to $11 per barrel just four years later as demand lagged behind increasing supply. A handful of Long Beach Peninsula growers stopped farming, Patten said.

The Long Beach crop goes into cranberry juice. Part of the Grayland crop is sold as fresh berries and processed cranberry sauces that grace many tables at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Patten and growers hope that research into the health benefits of eating cranberries will boost the market for their crops. Cranberries have long been known to fight urinary tract infections, but recent studies suggest the tart berries also help prevent cancer and heart disease and perhaps improve memory, according to the Cranberry Institute.

Earlier this year, cranberry growers feared a salmon-protection lawsuit could end their use of several chemicals used to ward off insects, weeds and fungus. But this fall, growers and plaintiffs agreed that new rules would not apply to the region’s bogs because the area has none of the federally listed fish species named in the suit.

"We dodged that bullet, but there’s other bullets out there that are going to take its place," Patten said.

Patten’s Cranberry Research Station in Long Beach faces a threat from WSU’s shrinking budget, but local farmers and political leaders are working to save the post.

Meanwhile, Patten continues to research new ways to control pests, boost yields and improve berry quality.

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