The forecast estimates the state will produce 2.2 million barrels of cranberries, a 12% rise from last year’s yield. Nationally, cranberry production is expected to reach 8.24 million barrels, up 2% from 2023.

Brian Wick, executive director of Massachusetts Cranberries, expressed cautious optimism about the harvest, despite recent hot and humid conditions that may affect fruit development. Wick noted that while the crop’s final size and quality will be influenced by upcoming weather, favorable conditions could still lead to a successful harvest.

Massachusetts is the second-largest cranberry-producing state in the U.S., with cranberries being the largest food commodity in the Commonwealth. The industry contributes $73.4 million annually and supports nearly 6,400 jobs.

For more details, visit cranberries.org.

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The funding is part of $300 million allocated to 66 U.S. organizations under the USDA’s new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), designed to build demand for American food and farm exports in high-potential markets worldwide.

Fruit concerns include:

• Washington Apple Commission, $7 million
• Pear Bureau Northwest, $4 million
• California Cherry Marketing and Research Board, $750,000
• Cherry Marketing Institute, $450,000
• U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, $1.3 million,
• Cranberry Institute, $1 million
• California Table Grape Commission, $3.3 million
• California Prune Board, $4.2 million
• California Fresh Fruit Association, $1 million
• California Agricultural Export Council, $1 million
• Washington State Fruit Commission, $900,000
• New York Wine and Grape Foundation, $1.3 million,
• Northwest Wine Promotion Coalition, $2.4 million
• Organic Trade Association, $2.5 million

The full list of recipients is here.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack authorized $1.2 billion in Commodity Credit Corp. funding in launching RAPP to help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond established markets, focusing on regions including Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.

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This label expansion increases the range of California commercial crops including grapes, strawberries, stone fruit, tomatoes and almonds. ProBlad Verde is a new organic biocontrol that leverages the naturally occurring BLAD polypeptide for a multi-site mode of action that controls fungal and bacterial diseases, according to a news release.

Unlike other biochemical fungicides, ProBlad Verde quickly absorbs into treated plant tissue providing translaminar activity offering both preventative and curative activity towards disease. The result is up to seven days of reach back activity and up to 14 days of disease prevention, according to the release.

The result is quick, reliable disease control that meets or exceeds established standards. When applied close to harvest this protection helps fruit resist fungal attack during shipping and storage.

ProBlad Verde is FRAC “BM01” fungicide with strong multi-site activity and MRL exempt, helping high value export crop growers meet increasingly stringent standards.

“This expanded registration means that California berry growers will be able to utilize ProBlad to control disease on their crops,” Peter Bierma, president of Sym-Agro, said in the release. “ProBlad offers a proven and effective solution that is ideal for the needs of today’s growers.”

Sym-Agro provides fungicides, biologicals, pesticides and solar protection solutions.

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Holley succeeds Tom Lochner, who was in the position for 35 years. Holley will join the WACGA in Wisconsin Rapids in mid-May.

Holley has extensive business expertise across multiple industries and has worked with companies in the agricultural sector, according to a news release.

Growing his skills over the past 27 years, Holley is an experienced executive director and international consultant, with a successful track record working with companies in the agriculture sector.

He has had senior positions at Fazheng Group and North Carolina State University. Holley specializes in organizational development, strategic planning, advocacy and research.

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Peter Oudemans, director of Rutgers University’s Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension, conducted a tour of the substation of the Rutgers’ New Jersey Station in Chatsworth, during the August event.

In addition to leading the fruit pathology program, Oudemans has worked with growers on improved crop management methods and taught classes in agricultural technology and remote sensing.

The center houses USDA, Ocean Spray and integrated pest management programs, Oudemans said, including weed science, entomology, plant pathology and plant breeding.

“We do everything from field trials to DNA sequencing and genetic mapping,” he said.

Blueberry breeding is particularly difficult because there’s so much competition, with private breeders and public institutions releasing new varieties, he said. New Jersey is the birthplace of the highbush blueberry.

The harvesting of wild berries was transcended through the work of Elizabeth White and Francis Colville to a cultivated, domesticated and now highly valued crop that is harvested globally year-round. The work originally was conducted at Whitesbog, New Jersey.

“So, there is a lot of history with blueberries here in southern New Jersey, and it is also the state fruit. Our harvest typically begins in June and continues through July,” Oudemans said.

Some of the new blueberry varieties are remarkable, he said.

The center’s research includes a field that holds five plants of each publicly available blueberry variety ever produced, up to the time Draper was patented.

It can take 10 years or more to produce a viable new variety by propagating it in different areas to get the purity to ensure it doesn’t get infected with any systemic diseases, he said.

“Usually, five years from identification to release is reasonable. We’re getting a lot better at it,” he said. “We’ve got tissue culture techniques out there that can really multiply the plants. And different micropropagation methods where you can take a single cutting and get a lot more plants than you could from one five-inch cutting (are being used).”

Mechanical harvesting

“They are so incredibly tasty, large and firm,” Oudemans said. “They’re amendable to mechanical harvesting, which is a huge factor for blueberry. With hand labor declining, mechanical harvesting is becoming more essential.”

From 1920 until about 1993, production of blueberries increased about 25 pounds per acre, per year, Oudemans said.

“In 1993, something happened,” he said. “It went to 250 pounds per acre, per year. Our increase in production went up ten-fold every year.”

The increase took place when the Duke variety was introduced and was planted in more acres.

“That kind of correlates with that production change. We topped out somewhere around 7,500 pounds per acre, per year.”

Technology advancements led to significant shifts in blueberry production levels — but not an increase. Instead, around 2016, yields began dropping by about 350 pounds per acre each year. The dramatic change can be traced to the increase in mechanical harvesting.

“Each of those large, ride-on mechanical harvesters are pretty pricey,” Oudemans said. “People won’t buy 10 of them in one year. As they buy more and more, that (production) loss increases because there’s more implementation of the harvester.”

A rough estimate is a loss of 30% for mechanically harvested berries, he said, compared to hand harvesting.

Cranberry advancements

Germplasm — the seeds, plants, or plant parts useful in crop breeding, research and conservation efforts — also is a major focus in Philip E. Marucci Center’s renowned cranberry research.

A big emphasis is placed on developing fungal-resistant varieties.

“This has been incredibly important because we’re losing some of our base pesticides,” Oudemans said. “As those products are eliminated I think our shelf life on some of our major materials is five more years. After that we’ll have nothing to control the disease.”

One of the facility’s bogs has cranberry germplasm “from all over the continent,” he said. One of the center’s cranberry projects is phenotype discovery, with two researchers dedicated to the concept of high-throughput phenotyping.

“We’re trying to develop methods to look at different phenotypes, which is how fast things color up, leaf size,” Oudemans said. “Those are kind of mundane phenotypes. We’re only interested in what kind of chemicals they’re producing. That includes biochemicals produced by the cranberry, (chemicals) that help things like urinary tract health, oral hygiene, different things like that.”

He said the field is dedicated to wild selections from throughout North America to see how they do in New Jersey and what kind of characteristics they have.

“We’re using drone imaging for some of it to look at flowering time, berry size and enlargement.”

Fruit rot is a problem in New Jersey cranberry production, and is a major research focus. In addition, red root, a weed that attracts Canada geese that feed on the roots in the water, creating large divots in the cranberry bed, is a target for control strategies.

Gary Pullano is a Michigan-based journalist with more than 45 years of industry experience. As a semiretired former managing editor for Great American Media Services, Pullano has covered the specialty agriculture sector for the past decade. He can be reached at garypullano@gmail.com.

Top photo: Peter Oudemans, director of Rutgers University’s Philip E. Marucci Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension, outlines cranberry research work.

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The marketing order regulated the handling of cranberries grown in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Long Island, New York.

Handlers are not required to submit assessments on cranberries handled during the 2023-24 crop year or reports, including those on acquisitions and inventory. During the suspension period, the Cranberry Marketing Committee, which locally administers the order, will use its financial reserves to fund promotion and other authorized activities.

This action follows the results of the referendum the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) conducted in June. AMS will conduct rulemaking and invite comments in the coming months to determine stakeholder and public support for terminating the cranberry marketing order.

The marketing order requires that USDA conduct a referendum every four years. The marketing order was favored by 26.5% of cranberry growers voting in the referendum and by 20.1% of the production volume voted in the referendum.

Either 50% support by number of voting producers or 50% of the volume of cranberries they represent was needed for the program and the Cranberry Marketing Committee to remain in place.

The marketing order, which was established in 1962, provides for the use of volume control in the form of producer allotments, handler withholdings, or a combination of both.

More information about the marketing order is available on the 929 Cranberries webpage on the AMS website.

Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually.  AMS’s oversight of fruit, vegetable and specialty crop marketing orders helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.

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The event, scheduled for Jan. 11-14 in Savannah, Georgia, is marketed as the largest educational conference and trade show in the southeastern U.S. that unites growers, vendors and suppliers, according to a news release.

The show includes more than 160 grower sessions covering a variety of fruits, vegetables and nuts including onions, cucumbers, peppers, squash, tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, watermelons, cantaloupe, Muscadine winegrapes and pecans.

Early registration ends Dec. 11. Regular registration begins Dec. 12 and ends Jan. 9 while on-site registration is available.

The show is sponsored by the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association in LaGrange, Georgia, and the Georgia Peach Council, based in Fort Valley, Georgia.

Southeast Regional features several different types of registrations to accommodate attendees’ needs and schedules. Conference organizers advise attendees to pay close attention to what each registration fee includes so they can be able to access the conference’s desired events, according to the release.

The different types of registrations include full conference registration, which includes all educational sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, trade show admission, and Thursday Friday and Saturday lunches, as well as the Thursday annual meeting and reception as well as the Friday trade show floor live auction reception.

The other registration options are by single days, which includes access to that day’s educational sessions, lunch, tradeshow and other events of the days.

Additional events require separate registration and space is limited.

Those events include

• FSMA 204 traceability workshop
• PSA grower training
• Bridging the GAPS (food safety and productivity)
• Better yields through conservation of bees and beneficial insects
• Pest management strategic plan for strawberries in FL, GA, and SC
• Diamond back moth pest management strategic plan
• Awards Breakfast (Saturday)

Sessions cover a wide variety of topics, including

• AI-enhanced precision orchard management
• AgTech’s role in vegetable and specialty crop production
• Applications and regulations for spray drones
• Building the AgTech ecosystem in Georgia
• Autonomous vegetable crops planter
• Regional leaf tissue nutrient sampling program
• Frozen fruit
• Vertical farming
• Aquaponics
• Controlled environment
• Irrigation management
• Cover crop and benefits to soil phoshorous
• Pollination
• Plant growth regulators
• Pests
• Diseases
• Weed management
• Organics
• Solar tech
• Agritourism

Registration information is available here.

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As part of the agreement, India also agreed to reduce tariffs on certain U.S. products, including fresh, frozen, dried and processed blueberries and cranberries as well as frozen turkey and frozen duck.

The openings followed major trade breakthroughs in June, according to a news release from the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office. The news was publicized by USTR Katherine Tai, who stated the two countries agreed to resolve their last outstanding dispute at the World Trade Organization: India — Measures Concerning the Importation of Certain Agricultural Products (DS 430).

The tariff cuts should expand economic opportunities for U.S. agricultural producers in a critical market and help bring more U.S. products to customers in India, USTR officials said in the release.

The announcement follows President Biden’s Sept. 8 meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, India, for the G20 Leaders’ Summit. In August, Ambassador Tai met with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, following the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers’ Meeting. During that meeting, Ambassador Tai and Minister Goyal discussed the WTO dispute and the two expressed their shared desire to reach a solution soon, according to the release.

“Resolving this last outstanding WTO dispute represents an important milestone in the U.S.-India trade relationship, while reducing tariffs on certain U.S. products enhances crucial market access for American agricultural producers,” Ambassador Tai said in the release. “These announcements, combined with Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit in June and President Biden’s trip to New Delhi this week, underscores the strength of our bilateral partnership. I look forward to continuing to work with Minister Goyal to deliver inclusive economic opportunities for our people.”

In June, the U.S. and India agreed to terminate six outstanding disputes at the WTO. India also agreed to reduce tariffs on certain U.S. products, including almonds, walnuts, apples, chickpeas, lentils, boric acid, and diagnostic reagents.

The agreement resolves the remaining longstanding dispute and opens a new chapter of bilateral cooperation that will deepen the trade relationship between the U.S. and India, according to the release.

The Joint Statement on the 13th Ministerial-level meeting of the Jan. 11 U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum can be found here.

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SHENZI 700 WG and 400 SC provide growers with proven solutions to protect crops against insect pests and resistance while minimizing environmental impacts. The active ingredient chlorantraniliprole targets pests while having minimal impact on beneficial insect populations, such as honeybees and other pollinators. SHENZI’s concentrated formulation allows lower dosage, less packaging and reduced storage space to improve efficiency, ease handling and reduce farmer costs.

“With SHENZI, growers can have high confidence their crops are protected from even the most challenging pests with excellent resistance management making them ideal integrated pest management partners for rotational programs,” David Davies, marketing manager for UPL, said in a news release. “Our SHENZI products deepen our ever-growing holistic portfolio of solutions as we support growers in sustainably producing healthy and nutritious crops to feed the world.”

SHENZI 700 WG insecticide controls pests including codling moth, leafminers and navel orangeworm in crops such as pome fruits, tree nuts, citrus, stone fruits, cranberries and grapes. SHENZI 400 SC insecticide offers long-lasting control of pests including armyworm, corn earworm and Colorado potato beetle in crops including potatoes, soybeans, cotton, fruiting vegetables, corn, strawberries and peanuts.

UPL has one of the most comprehensive portfolios in the market, offering growers solutions from preseason to postharvest. Registration of both SHENZI 700 WG and SHENZI 400 SC is pending in the state of California.

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Shawn Steffan, U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist with the Agricultural Research Service and associate professor with the University of Wisconsin Department of Entomology, spoke at the 2023 Wisconsin Cranberry School in mid-January, providing an overview of calculating the optimal time to spray for cranberry insect pests.

Phenology models based on degree-day accrual represent a more accurate approach to cranberry pest management, Steffan said.

“Degree days are a powerful way of incorporating both temperature and time into one measurement to quantify the rate of plant or insect development,” he said. “It includes the element of time, but it is time that includes measurements of heat because insects experience time largely as a function of heat.”

For his research, Steffan tracked the growing degree days of the cranberry vines and the life cycles of three major cranberry pests: Sparganothis fruitworm, cranberry fruitworm and blackheaded fireworm.

Using trap-catch data from nine growing regions in Wisconsin, Steffan showed how the timings of moth emergence of the three pests are often highly synchronized with each other.

“All three of these moths come out of winter and tend to start their flight at about the same time, which is right around when the vines accumulate 900- to 1,000-degree days,” Steffan said.

It’s the larval or caterpillar stage of each pest that causes the most damage to cranberries.

“So often, our control tactics are aimed at hitting the larvae,” he said. “So it would be nice to know when they’re out.” 

While all three pests emerge at the same time, the peak activity of the three insects varies. The peak flights for Sparganothis and cranberry fruitworm are similar, while blackheaded fireworm tends to peak earlier, Steffan said.

That means early spray timings for Sparganothis may also help control cranberry fruitworm and possibly blackheaded fireworm.

In 2018 field trials, Steffan and his research group applied insecticide at 25% egg hatch and 75% hatch, and a third trial in which insecticide was applied at 25% and 75% egg hatch.

The following year, the trial was modified to see whether it was helpful to spray even earlier, so sprays were timed for 10%, 25% and 40% egg hatch.

“We can look at any egg-hatch percentage and any spray tactic that is aiming for a particular pest,” Steffan said. “Do we want to spray at the front-end or the back-end of the peak? Do we go early, or do we go late? If we spray at 25%, we kill what has already hatched and spray residue on the leaves may potentially kill what will be hatching soon.” 

Steffan and his researchers showed significantly more caterpillars were killed when the sprays were timed for 10% and 25% Sparganothis egg hatch.

“These two early times were similarly effective and both were much better than either the 40% or 75% times,” he said. “The increase in spray efficacy was significant, which means that growers can get a lot more out of a well-timed spray.” 

While monitoring degree days to estimate egg hatch for Sparganothis, Steffan observed that at 25% egg hatch, about 90% of the adult moths were also present.

“So you can potentially knock out most of the adult female egg layers at the same time that you’re knocking out the hatched eggs,” he said. “You kill what’s already hatched, some of which will hatch soon and you also knock out lots of the egg layers, which preempts the existence of future eggs.”

Looking at the best time to control Sparganothis, Steffan advises spraying at 1,000 to 1,140 degree-day benchmarks. Because of the similarity in their life cycles, that same timeframe is also optimal to control cranberry fruitworm and much of the blackheaded fireworm population, Steffan said.

— By Lorry Erickson, FGN Correspondent

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