US cranberry growers seek government support in upgrading bogs
“Prices are dropping. Cape Cod cranberry growers are losing their farms. The industry is in a crisis mode,” Brian Wick, of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, told the state Revenue Committee on Tuesday. “Yet there’s hope for the future.”
Under a bill (H 2654) filed by Rep. William Straus, farmers could apply for tax credits equal to 25 percent of the total expenditures incurred by a renovation, repair, replacement, regrading or restoration of a cranberry bog, with a cap of $100,000 per taxpayer, according to a summary. The program would be administered by the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which could authorize up to $2 million per year through 2021, under the legislation.
Wick explained the association’s position in an emailed statement: “Less than 10 percent of the cranberry acreage in the state is found on the Cape but it still remains an important and viable segment of the industry. The cranberry vines are no different than off-cape and for some growers, they may need to renovate some of their acreage into the higher yielding varieties that the global marketplace is demanding in support of the growing dried fruit market.”
Wick said some of the native varieties of cranberries have been around for more than 100 years and that newer hybrids, “produce a larger, firmer berry and can yield two to three, or more, times what the traditional varieties are capable of. The cost in doing such a retooling of the bogs is high and for many growers, they lack the financial resources to do so or are locked out of credit opportunities.”
Read more at eastham.wickedlocal.com
