Wisconsin’s cranberry farmers expect to harvest 4.97 million barrels of cranberries this season, an increase over 2022’s 4.84 million barrels but still far short of the record 6 million barrels in 2013, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. If projections hold, the state will remain the largest cranberry producer in the world, harvesting 60% of the crop in the U.S.
The forecast, based on grower surveys, marks the 29th year Wisconsin has led the nation in cranberry production. It more than doubles the production of Massachusetts, with an expected 1.95 million barrels this season, and New Jersey, at 561,000 barrels, is projected to rank third. Oregon and Washington follow at 520,000 and 168,000 barrels, respectively.
The total expected U.S. crop is 8.17 million barrels, up from 2022’s 7.4 million but still less than 2018’s 9 million. The crop is grown on 21,000 acres across 20 counties in Wisconsin’s central and northern regions, but only around 5% of this year’s crop will be sold as fresh fruit. The remainder will be frozen and stored for longer-term sales. From September 2021–August 2022, 53% of the U.S. cranberry production volume was exported to countries including Columbia, the United Kingdom, European Union, China, Mexico, and South Korea.
