Cranberry Harvest

The 2013 cranberry crop looks like it is going to be a good one. Last years dry conditions pushed the harvest later into the year but this year's wet weather is helping since cranberry bogs usually need to be flooded to harvest. The Ag Network's KayDee Gilkey has more on this story.

GILKEY: Washington State is the fifth largest cranberry producer in the nation and the bulk of that goes into processed meaning things like Ocean Spray's Craisins or used for cranberry juice. New varieties are being developed by universities to be heartier and tolerate more severe conditions like last year's drought conditions. Some new varieties are also expected to out-produce current varieties by double or triple current production.

Thanks KayDee. Another benefit of the cranberry harvest you wouldn't think of is tourism. The 92nd annual Cranberrian Festival was held over this past weekend in western Washington and brought throngs of people out for tours of the cranberry bogs and of course to sample the tart berries in things like pastries and more. The festival began on the Peninsula at the turn of the century and was revived by the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in the early 1980s.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.