The cranberry harvest has taken a bit of a dip this year across the province of British Columbia, and Pitt Meadows is no exception. The dip, however, was to be expected after a bumper crop in 2018, , according to the B.C. Cranberry marketing commission.
Mapleridgenews.com quoted Jack Brown, chairman of the commission, as saying: “The cranberry vines are rebuilding after last year’s top yield and some areas suffered winter damage earlier in the year.”
Travis Hopcott with Hopcott Farms in Pitt Meadows said his yield was about half the yield of last year. Hopcott started his harvest mid-October and will be finishing up on Saturday. He has four bogs, three that average about seven hectares each, and one that is only about two hectares. Anywhere from nine to 13 people will be out in the bogs harvesting his crop.
Usually he harvests close to 680,389 kilograms of cranberries in an average year that are destined for Ocean Spray and sold internationally as Craisins. This year he said he harvested 317,515 kilograms at best. He blames his low yield on the unique weather system that took place Feb. 9 and 10 this year.
Hopcott said the warmer winter meant the cranberries were just about waking up, a little bit earlier than normal. But, he said, those two days were cold, there was a clear sky, wind and the dew point was very low. “That’s what just made everything so dry.”
