Wisconsin is home to the largest production of cranberry crops in the world, and this week is the start of the cranberry harvest season. Farmers say it's later than usual. but the crop is on track thanks to the weather.
“Wisconsin is not only number one in cranberry growing, but it is also our state fruit,” explained Dave Hansen who is the Manager of DuBay Cranberry Company in Junction City. “Wisconsin has been the nation’s leader in cranberries for the past 26 years.” Staff at DuBay Cranberry Company have already started harvesting more than 40,000 pounds of cranberries. Every year cranberries are grown by roughly 250 farmers throughout 20 counties in the state.
“We had a little bit of a slow start this year because of the mild fall,” added Hansen. “We are expecting the first frost to be this Thursday night or Friday so that should bring the color out in the berries even more.”
In 2019, the Wisconsin cranberry production totaled more than 5.5 million barrels which equal about 20,600 acres. Farmers believe this year will be about the same.
“We should finish our harvest in the next 20 days,” Hansen told wsaw.com.
