Cranberry farmers turning previous bogs into wetlands

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CARVER, MASSACHUSETTS – It is peak season for cranberry farmers in southeastern Massachusetts. The Bay State ranks second behind Wisconsin in cranberry manufacturing throughout the U.S.

"Massachusetts has an extremely sturdy cranberry business," says Karen Cahill, deputy government director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association .

She tells FOX {that a} 2023 financial examine confirmed a $1.7 billion contribution to the state's economic system and assist of almost 6,400 jobs within the space.

However one cranberry farmer within the state says it is changing into tougher to develop in Massachusetts.

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Jarrod Rhodes, Edgewood Bogs, works alongside crews to reap this 12 months's cranberries. (Chelsea Torres)

Jarrod Rhodes, a fourth-generation cranberry farmer in Carver, Massachusetts, produces 50,000 barrels – or 5 million kilos – of cranberries a 12 months on his household farm. His household based Edgewood Bogs LLC within the early Forties. The Rhodes launched Cape Cod Choose in 2009, the place they course of a portion of their very own fruit for the frozen retail market, he stated.

However rising costs and altering climate patterns are including stress.

"It sort of all provides up, and it turns into much more costly to develop right here versus Wisconsin or Canada," Rhodes stated.

Cahill added, "Massachusetts is an costly place to do enterprise normally, pushed by excessive prices for labor, utilities, and actual property."

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She additionally says one key distinction is the dimensions of Massachusetts in comparison with Wisconsin alone.

"The size in Wisconsin is considerably bigger – greater than double the acreage in Massachusetts – and doing something at scale tends to make it cheaper," she stated.

With these pressures in thoughts, Rhodes turned to a state program to retire and restore greater than 30 acres of older bogs.

"The property was in misery and it wanted to be rebuilt," he says.

Cranberry lavatory in Carver, Massachusetts (Chelsea Torres)

The state's Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) runs a cranberry lavatory program that converts retired bogs again to native wetlands.

Over the previous decade, DER has restored a number of unprofitable bogs, together with the Eel River Headwaters Restoration. DER's website says Atlantic white cedar has rebounded, wetlands now cowl former farm surfaces, and river herring have returned upstream.

This previous, unprofitable lavatory will turn out to be a wetland within the Spring of 2026. (Chelsea Torres)

Rhodes knew of an unprofitable lavatory and utilized for this system, which is funded by state and federal grants.

"We determined to not rebuild this however take the cash and purchase a greater property," he stated.

The Rhodes now farm much less acreage, however the retired lavatory will likely be completely protected as wetland, and the household is investing the proceeds in higher-yielding fields.

DER describes the method as a "inexperienced exit technique," during which households such because the Rhodes are compensated by way of restoration grants and dialog easements to transform bogs to wetlands.

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Krista Haas of DER stated land should be legally protected earlier than building begins.

"This locations a deed restriction on the land, which restricts sure actions comparable to growth," Haas stated. "Conservation easements are sometimes finished by way of the USDA Pure Sources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Reserve Easement (WRE) Program."

The state's Division of Ecological Restoration says that is the primary restoration challenge, Eel River Headwater close to Plymouth. (State of Massachusett's Division of Ecological Restoration)

As extra initiatives take form, Rhodes stated many growers are contemplating the identical path. Some are nearing retirement, and younger generations are "not as ," he stated. The Rhodes' wetland restoration is scheduled for completion in spring 2026.