Cranberry Senior Pt 1

Cranberry Senior Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. Cranberry harvest in the Pacific Northwest is well underway and one of Washington state’s largest cranberry farms belongs to Malcom McPhail who’s been a grower since 1985.

McPhail says it’s something he and his wife, Ardell, decided to do 37 years ago, that now involves the whole family …

McPHAIL … “We’re in Ilwaco, our home farm, and then we have farms in four locations, Long Beach and my son’s farm is seven miles away.”

McPhail says they’ve grown their operation over the years, buying up more acreage as they went along …

McPHAIL … “The three farms that we farm are within two miles of on another. Where I am right now, there’s a road that runs in front of our house and on the other side of the road is Ilwaco city limits. We’re the southern most cranberry farm in the state.”

And after all these years, McPhail says he’s got his routine down pat …

McPHAIL … “I’m 85, and I meet with my crew every morning. I have written job descriptions of what we need to do on a given day. And, normally, Monday I show up with the list that we want to get done during the week.”

That, McPhail says is a schedule that’s worked pretty well …

McPHAIL … “So, I meet with them and then I come back and have my oatmeal and read the paper and get out by 10 O’clock.”

Tune in tomorrow for more on Washington’s most senior cranberry farmer and why it’s the McPhail families’ chosen lifestyle.

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