HYANNIS – The Massachusetts cranberry industry recently celebrated their 131st Annual Meeting of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association, paying tribute to cranberries as the Commonwealth’s largest agricultural food crop.
During the meet, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker joined the more than 300 growers and their employees to talk about the impact that this fruit has on the region, and how he plans to support that growth in the future.
“It was great to see the Governor come to our meeting and he came basically to show the support for the industry and that he as the Governor is planning to do as much as he can to help the industry out, by recognizing the importance [that this crop brings] to the… local economy,” says Brian Wick of the Association.
The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association represents more than 325 cranberry growers in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and Nantucket. Cranberries are the largest agricultural food commodity produced in Massachusetts, with an annual crop value of $68.9 million.
“Growing season has been going along pretty well. I mean it has been pretty challenging at times with various weather events. July was pretty hot and dry, and we were getting concerns about potentially not having enough rainfall for harvest, but that has gone away with August with all the rain storms coming through, so that has been good in getting the reservoirs back up to where they need to be,” adds Wick.
Massachusetts remains second in cranberry growing production in the country, at approximately 23%. Wisconsin maintains the number one position, yielding about 64% of cranberries grown in the U.S.
For more information about Massachusetts cranberries you can visit Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association’s website at cranberries.org or follow the Association on Facebook, and Twitter.
By JOHN BONDAREK, CapeCod.Com News Center
About CapeCod.com NewsCenter
