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Continued from previous page:
The Official Newsletter of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’
Association ©
NOVEMBER 2016
Nantucket Strong By: Linda Rinta
This is the year three generations of Nantucket cranberry-men
walked though fire to bring the bogs they’ve worked into the next
era. Tom Larrabee Sr, Tom Lar-rabee Jr and his son Nick Larrabee
had already transitioned the Windswept Bog to organic production
for the better mar-ket, growing berries to make people well. Now
they had taken an enormous chal-lenge as they began the transition
pro-cess at Milestone Bog located on the pristine moors of
Nantucket, once the largest and arguably one of the oldest
cranberry bogs in the world.
No one could have predicted the tragedy that would come in the
spring and just how difficult the year would slog on for the
Larrabee family. On April 16, Tom Larrabee Sr. died after being
rescued from the mud of Hummock Pond. An out-doorsman, he was doing
what he loved, exploring with his dogs looking for freshly exposed
arrowheads and artifacts around the newly drained salt pond. He was
83 years young, had farmed on Nan-tucket all of his life and
steered the good ship Windswept and Milestone for over 50 years
having come onboard as a teenager in 1950.
Tom Larrabee Jr, his son Nick, foreman Hristo Krastev and
with great support from the owners of the property,
Nantucket
Conservation Foundation (NCF), moved ahead with their ambi-
tious plan for the farm. Although the loss of their mentor is
pro-
found his imprint is everywhere.
Continued on page 6:
Nick, Tom Sr. and Tom Larrabee Jr.
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PAGE 2
CCCGA Board of Directors
President Keith Mann
1st Vice President
Roberto Rubini
2nd Vice President Jeff Kapell
Secretary/Treasurer
Carolyn DeMoranville
DIRECTORS Jack Angley Matt Beaton Paul Harju Jon Jaffe
John Mason Brett Meredith
Glenn Reid Michael Wainio
Steve Ward
CCCGA Staff
Brian Wick Executive Director
[email protected]
Dawn Gates-Allen Director of Member & Financial Services
[email protected]
Patti Silvia Executive Assistant / Weather Observer
[email protected]
Anne Cote Frost Coordinator
[email protected]
Henry S. Gillet, Jr. Government Affairs Director
The Bogside© Newsletter is a member only subscription and is not
to be redistributed without permission.
Production & Design: Patti Silvia
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
COVER CCCGA Spotlight
4 Changing on the Fly
9
Cranberries 101
10
Notes from the Cranberry Station
12 Notes from the Hill
14 Out & About
15 Steam Academy
22 Grumpy 5K Sponsors
24
CCCGA In Pictures
31
Classified Ads
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providing valuable credit for future grant applica-tions
demonstrating that we are actively trying new and different methods
for promoting Massachu-setts Cranberries and increasing the value
of cran-berries as a specialty crop commodity. If any grower is
interested in participating at the market as either volunteering to
sit at our display for a day or a few hours to offering products
for sale, please contact the CCCGA office as soon as possible. We
will be at the market from November 14-20. Meanwhile on the
regulatory front, there were two opportunities for CCCGA to weigh
in on. First, the Department of Energy Resources proposed a new
energy program for solar that would have a signifi-cant impact on
agricultural land. The proposal would severely restrict where these
arrays could be sited, necessitating the need for comments. With a
new incentive program, growers may still have the opportunity to
diversify their farm through a diversified portfolio that may
include solar. We don’t want that option removed before it can even
be considered. Our comments pointed out what may have been the
unintended consequences of the proposal and we urged the department
to re-consider their position, allowing sensible sitings of
alternative energy projects on agricultural land. Others in
agriculture also commented and I sus-pect our collective voices
will be heard. The other notable regulatory change was a public
hearing by MDAR to hear public comments on proposed changes to the
Nutrient Management Regulations. The new regulations will help to
clari-fy some of the definitions involving wetlands and setbacks
and otherwise insure that the regulations work in concert with the
UMass guidelines. We were supportive of the revised regulations and
suggested a couple of minor points to provide fur-ther clarity. The
department now needs to weigh all of the comments received and then
decide what changes may need to be made. The hope is that these
revised regulations will be in place for the 2017 growing season.
We will continue to monitor the process and will communicate any
changes to the grower community. Please contact me with any
questions.
While growers have been busy harvesting their crop and waiting
for and hopefully securing precious wa-ter, CCCGA has been busy as
well. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will see some of the
activities that CCCGA has been involved in this fall, promot-ing
Massachusetts cranberries. The first major event was celebrating
the 200th anniversary of cranberry production in Massachusetts,
technically in the world. On a beautiful sunny and warm September
day, the CCCGA Board of Directors welcomed key legislators, their
aides, state agencies, industry per-sonnel, and media
representatives to A.D. Make-peace Company’s Cranebrook Bog in
Carver. A proclamation from Governor Baker and a state house
resolution was read by Senator deMacedo and Representatives
Gifford, Howitt and Orrall, all in recognition of the 200th
anniversary. Congressman Bill Keating and his staff were in
attendance, dis-cussing recent efforts his office has undertaken
and what works remains to assist the industry. Repre-sentative Paul
Schmid was also able to stop by and exchange future legislative
project ideas. Cape Cod Select had their “Smoothie Bike” (makes a
cranberry smoothie drink while you pedal) in full operation and
there were product samples donated by Decas Cranberry and Ocean
Spray. Guests had the oppor-tunity to learn more about the industry
and some of the challenges and opportunities facing growers to-day.
It was a great day to reflect on the history and heritage of
cranberry growing and a simultaneous look to the future. Two new
opportunities that have been made availa-ble to us to further
promote Massachusetts cranber-ries. First, there will be a float in
the Plymouth Thanksgiving Parade that focuses on the 200th
anni-versary of Massachusetts cranberries. This float will meld the
history and present day of cranberry grow-ing in one 8’ trailer.
There will be space for 2 people to be wavers on the front of the
float and we are holding a social media campaign to gain interest
in the float and allow us a pool of contestants to draw upon. The
second opportunity is to promote cran-berries at the Boston Public
Market in the Hay-market section of the city. This will be a
one-week promotion, allowing us to get in front of an urban crowd.
We will be selling donated fresh fruit along with other cranberry
products produced by local growers. We will have brochures, recipe
cards and other information available to consumers as well. We are
viewing this as a learning opportunity to bet-ter understand what
might work (or not work) for the future. It’s also a way to
possibly open market opportunities for growers in the future, as
well as
PAGE 4
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Photo courtesy of: Dawn Gates-Allen
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Continued from cover:
PAGE 6
The Larrabee Legacy
Tom senior grew up on his family farm, and continued to farm
adjacent to the moors while he worked on Milestone Bog as a kid. He
was on those bogs through the post war years when they were all but
forgotten and guided them through a series of owners. Finally in
1969 island residents Roy Larsen, Walter Beinecke and Arthur Dean
purchased the Milestone Bog for the NCF as a way to generate money
to support the foundation. In 1980 the foundation was able to
purchase the Windswept bogs and became the owner of all of the 232
acres of producing cranberry bogs on Nantucket.
In the years that followed the bogs were leased to off-island
cranberry growers including Northland Cranberry Company who
abandoned the lease in the cranberry market crash of 1999. The
constant figure throughout those challenging years was the
stewardship of Tom Larrabee Sr., steady hands for the changes
ahead. Without those steady hands, and the heads and hearts of the
Nantucket Conservation Foundation the Nantucket cranberry heritage
might have faded in the mist.
In 2003 Tom Jr. came home and took the helm for his father.
After 13 years he says he is “a cranberry grower, mechanic,
carpenter, plumber” and he learned it all from his father. He can
manage a crew and learned discipline and leadership from the
Marines. He is grateful to both. And when he needs council he
visits the beautiful overlook to the expanse of Milestone Bog,
where a memorial dedicated to Tom Larrabee Sr. and NCF visionary
Roy Larsen now sits. It is the place he and his father visited
together often.
Protected Blessed by the Godfathers
It should be said at the outset that the rescue mission for
these bogs would not have been possible without the vision of Roy
Larsen and the continued dedication of the Nantucket Conservation
Foundation. In the building boom of the 1960s Roy Larsen, Nantucket
resident and retired vice chairman of Time Life saw the need to
preserve the unique character of Nantucket and organized his
friends and wealthy donors to purchase and protect farms and
wildlands to be tucked under the protective wing of an established
foundation. He also had the vision of acquiring the cranberry bogs
on the island to conserve this unique Nantucket cranberry heritage
despite the difficulties of commodity marketing and use the
cranberry proceeds to endow the foundation.
expressed at the purchase and gift of those bogs to the
foundation. “Roy’s total fascination with the cranberry bogs was a
mystery to me”, he admitted, then added his own home grown
obsession with all things cranberry. There is something so alluring
about those particular bogs that figure so prominently in the
natural heritage of the island. “Roy loved to drive out to that
overlook on Milestone and enjoy a good cigar.”
Today, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and its board of 12
directors protect over 9,000 acres of unspoiled beaches, moors,
wetlands, cranberry bogs, sprawling farms and grasslands for
everyone. The conservation lands are used to support environmental
and wildlife research, sustainable farming and recreation. Over the
years NCF has raised over $37 million for land acquisition and
management and employs 18 people including 4 full time scientists.
It takes full time fund raising and an army of members and
volunteers to continue the NCF vision.
A Heritage in Crimson
In truth, cranberries have always been something more to
Nantucket than on the mainland. They were life sustaining to Native
Americans, to the first English settlers in 1659, through the
blockade years during war, through long whaling voyages and the
last surviving industry following the whaling and fishing decline.
In 1880 Eastman Johnson painted the very famous “Cranberry Harvest
on the Island of Nantucket” of a wild berry harvest that has come
to symbolize the heart and soul of the New England industry. The
print is featured on the cover of the Spinner Publication of
“Cranberry Harvest” a history of Cranberry growing in
Massachusetts; the original hangs in the Timkin Art Gallery in San
Diego, CA.
Upon the moors, cranberries grew naturally and
were collected by Native Americans and later by
settlers, to eat, preserve food and for medicinal
purposes. Even then the healing properties of
cranberries were recognized. The soils were
generally poor and game animals at that time,
according to historian Amy Jenness, were no bigger
than a rabbit. During both the revolutionary war and
the war of 1812 shipping to and from Nantucket was
disrupted by the British and the Patriots. Jenness
reports the islanders were close to starvation at the
end of those two wars sustained by fish, poor crops
as well as nuts and berries collected from the wild.
On Nantucket and Cape Cod, emerging cranberry
sales were associated with the nutritional deficiency
of sailors at sea. By 1683, settlers were making
juice from cranberries and realizing the benefits, by
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1820 they were shipped to Europe and by 1850 they were widely
used by long voyage whalers to prevent scurvy at sea. The
collection and packing of berries in empty whale oil barrels was
the well paid work of women and girls prior to the first
‘cultivated’ cranberry bog on Nantucket in 1857. As whaling came to
a close, cranberry cultivation be-came the surviving island
industry.
In 1904 William T. Makepeace planted a 10 acre “cultivated”
cranberry bog on Nantucket and later expanded to include Gibbs
swamp and what was to become the largest continuous cranberry bog
in the world, Milestone Bog at 300 acres. Through much of the
history of cranberry growing, the supply of berries has exceeded
the demand and cranberry bogs have vanished from the landscape. Not
how-ever on Nantucket where moors, meadows and cranberry bogs
remain indelible features of nat-ural and human heritage, protected
from the vagaries of fortune.
Marketing Challenges
The cranberry market disaster in 1999 was fol-lowed shortly by a
delayed aftershock that has last-ed much longer, depressing
cranberry prices for many growers at below cost of production,
depend-ing on market affiliation. Nantucket drew the short straw.
Challenges for cranberry growers on the mainland are ever more
acute on Nantucket where the high cost of transportation, 40 miles
off-shore, raises the cost of farming exponentially. If that
weren’t enough, the cost of housing on the island is too high to
support a traditional farm labor pool.
Tom Jr. came home on the heels of the cranberry crash. In three
years of neglect, parts of the bogs were overgrown with trees and
his father was struggling with the help of a young assistant, newly
arrived Hristo Krastev, an engineering student from Bulgaria. It
was immediately evident that in order for the bogs to continue, big
changes were re-quired. There had to be a better way to get that
better price and so they made the decision to grow organically…and
develop a better marketing strate-gy.
That was 13 years ago. October 8th Nantucket Cranberries
celebrated their 13th annual harvest festival at the Milestone Bogs
with an estimated attendance of 8,000. Attendees enjoyed bog tours,
hayrides, family games, music and food. For is-landers it was a
chance to revel in the uniqueness of their place in time and
future.
Vision for Tomorrow
When Tom Jones retired from Ocean Spray he saw cranberries in
the rear view mirror. Then he met a
Jericho House
Continued on page 8:
Tom Larrabee Jr. and Brian Wick
Hristo Krastev and Tom Larrabee Jr. at Windswept Bog
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PAGE 8
story of the Nantucket Bogs, 230 acres of soon to be all organic
cranberries supported by a Conser-vation Foundation and stuck in a
lousy market posi-tion was a compelling challenge to Jones. All of
his marketing instincts told him this offered an incredi-ble
opportunity for niche marketing and idyllic branding, Nantucket
Organic Cranberries.
Jones already knew all the uniquely great things about
cranberries and he also knew that with a fo-cus on the beverage
industry, processors had largely neglected the emerging global
interest in nutraceuticals. Even better, the heirloom varieties of
berries with maximum health benefits, were just the varieties that
are grown on Nantucket and now organically.
In 2012 Tom Jones took over the marketing of the berries on
Nantucket for that particular brand de-velopment. They now market
Nantucket Organic Cranberries fresh and organic cranberry sauce
dis-tributed in the Pacific Northwest under the Costco band and
continue to develop market commensu-rate with the progression of
organic production. He commented “cranberries are the best value of
any of the super fruit, still underutilized by food formula-tors.”
Tom Jones met a man from Nantucket and is bullish again on
cranberries; Nantucket Strong!
Continued from page 7:
Hristo Krastev at Windswept Bog
Milestone Bog Memorial
Milestone Bog - Nantucket Conservation Foundation
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Sharon Community Center
It’s hard to believe that folks actually book these cranberry
speaking engagements a year in ad-vance. I was contacted by Warren
Shepard from the Sharon Men’s Club. Warren is a retired Board of
Director during the 1970’s for the Massachusetts Department of
Agriculture. Warren’s area of exper-tise was land use planning.
Warren is also in charge of arranging monthly guest speakers for
the Sharon’s Men’s Club; initially he wanted to present cranberries
to the group, however he quickly decid-ed that there have been so
many drastic changes in our industry since the early 1970’s, that
he gra-ciously passed the presentation time slot over to us here at
CCCGA. Needless to say, when members of the Men’s Club arrived and
I showed up, that causes quite the stir. Warren announced that he
recruited me to be the guest speaker and the room filled with
smiles. There were over a hundred in attendance and at the end of
the presentation, Warren openly admitted that there was absolutely
no way he would have been able to deliver the presentation on
“Cranberries 101”.
Another educational opportunity came to CCCGA by the way of John
Decas. John contacted me back this summer about a children’s
educational opportunity at the Marion Children’s Academy. John’s
niece is a staff teacher at the pre-school and let me tell you,
kids are my favorite because of their antsy enthusiasm. They love
sharing stories about the bog experiences, they are pure and
inno-cent while being so captive and they love participa-tion. They
got to enjoy the images from the interac-tive experiments, sampled
cranberries, and bounced cranberries and watched them float in
wa-ter. After a brief enthusiastic chat, these experi-ments made
sense to the children and that made the discussion come to
life.
Marion Children’s Academy
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Harvest Time at the Station:
Once again it is the time of year to send out a huge thank you
to the A.D. Makepeace Company and to the Beaton’s Cranberry Growers
Service for the harvest of State Bog (ADM) and Rocky Pond (CGS).
While our crops were not as large as our 2015 record, we beat 2014
and came in above my estimate - not bad consid-ering the drought.
Quality and color was excellent, despite our stomping around for
research! Here are some photos of the harvest and a special visitor
who stopped by in October! Check out more photos on the Station's
Facebook page (UMassCranberryStation) and follow Erika on Twitter
(@esaalau).
Station Director search:
As most of you know, I am retiring this winter. The job posting
for my replacement is now available online (see the Station's
website for a link). Review of applications will begin on December
5. Station faculty Anne Averill, Peter Jeranyama, and Erika Saalau
Rojas and growers Kirby Gilmore and Matt Beaton are serving on the
search committee.
Notes From The UMass Cranberry Station
Carolyn DeMoranville, Director
Harvest at State Bog (photos by Erika Saalau Rojas)
Erika with our visitor - Frank Caruso. Frank was glad to wear
his Patriots hat since he doesn't like to rub it in too much when
he is at home in Washington.
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Harvest at Rocky Pond (photos by Erika Saalau Rojas)
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PAGE 12
We have experienced VERY LIMITED legislative activity since
August 1st when the twice weekly informal sessions began. Having
ended full formals with fiscal storm clouds overhead, it’s
understandable that legislative leaders have primarily focused on
receipts and spending during the 1st quarter of FY17. Governor
Baker’s Budget Chief, Kristen Lepore, noted after the legislature
overrode $230 million of the $265 million Governor’s FY17 budget
vetoes that we were beginning the new fiscal year with an
unbalanced budget. The possibility of $200 million in 9C cuts this
fall was of universal concern.
July and August tax receipts came in slightly below budget
projections. Sales tax receipts were leading the negative
indicators. September receipts were up marginally over benchmarks,
leaving the state about $11 million under FY17 first quarter
revenue estimates. The State House news service reported that
Lepore, in mid-October, further lowered the revenue estimates for
the balance of the fiscal year. She sighted lower than anticipated
sales tax and other income. Lepore also sighted significant under
funding of various accounts in the FY17 budget including: snow and
ice removal, indigent defense legal services, housing for homeless
families, and MassHealth.
Speaker Bob DeLeo and Senate Stan Rosenberg
urged Governor Baker and his fiscal team to show
more patience before taking action to make 9C cuts
this early in the fiscal year. On Thursday, October
27th, Governor Baker announced his decision to
delay spending cuts for NOW. To some of us, the
political pressures from legislative leaders and the
political pressure from the GOP on making cuts so
close to the November 8th election “made it an
easier call” for the Governor. Governor Baker also
announced his administration has taken steps to
further control spending, including establishing a
$25 million savings from a new voluntary
employment separation program.
Notes From The Hill: By: Henry Gillet
2016 Elections
Presidential politics continues to grab all of the headlines but
state wide legislative races can have as much, if not more, impact
over the next 2 years. All 200 MA legislative seats are up for
election, 160 in the House and 40 in the Senate. Democrats will
continue to have a “super majority” in both legislative branches.
The September primary election decided 17 legislative races. The
winners will face no challenge on November 8th. 2 incumbent
democrats were defeated in the primary; Representative Tim Toomey,
a 12 term Cambridge legislator, and incumbent Representative Marcos
Devers, a 3 term Lawrence legislator.
57 seats in the legislature will be decided on November 8th.
Heavy voter turnout is forecast. Make sure your voice is heard.
Can’t vote on the 8th? Polls are NOW OPEN for early voting. Contact
your local city or town election commission to cast your
ballot.
In addition to self-preservation, legislators are also very
interested in the 4 ballot referenda.
Question 1 – authorizes the MA Gaming Commission to authorize a
second slot parlor license, most likely in Everett, MA.
Question 2 – allows the establishment of up to 12 new charter
schools annually.
Question 3 – farm animal cruelty. This is the HSUS effort to ban
any confinement or sale of veal, pork, and egg products in the
commonwealth.
Question 4 – legalization of recreational marijuana use in the
Commonwealth.
These are 4 more GOOD reasons to VOTE on November 8
th or sooner.
Do stay tuned…
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Bog Management
Bog Renovation
Custom Herbicide & Fertilizer Applications
Harvesting
IPM
Ditching and Drainage
Sanding
Flume Repair & Replacement
Irrigation Installation & Retrofitting
Weeding & Wiping
2417 Cranberry Highway, Wareham, MA 02571
Telephone: 508-295-2222
Peter Beaton - [email protected]
Marjie Beaton-Kane - [email protected]
Cell: 617-688-6961
Bill Alger
317 Elm Street
Kingston, MA 02364
BILL’S TRACTOR REPAIR
Servicing
Diesel and Gasoline
2017 Crop Insurance - Sales Closing Date - Nov. 20th
November 20th 2016 is the last day to purchase a new crop
insurance policy, or make chang-
es to or cancel an existing policy!
It’s time to review your crop insurance policy for 2017! Crop
insurance has several options
that can provide security from a crop loss. Growers can select a
level of protection from 50%
to 75% of your normal yield and/or 67% to 100% of the
established price of $30.60. Growers
with multiple tracts may insure each tract separately provided
they have separate tract
records. For more information, check out the 2017 cranberry fact
sheet.
Crop insurance is sold and delivered through private crop
insurance agents. A list of crop insurance agents is available at
all USDA Service Centers or on the RMA website at:
www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents/.
UMass Extension works in partnership with the USDA Risk
Management Agency (RMA) to educate
Massachusetts producers about Federal Crop Insurance and Risk
Management Programs. For more
information, please visit www.rma.usda.gov or contact UMass Risk
Management Specialists Paul
Russell at [email protected] or Tom Smiarowski at
[email protected]
“This Institution is an Equal Opportunity Provider”
http://www.rma.usda.gov/fields/nc_rso/2017/2017manjricranberries.pdffile:///C:/Users/paul/2016RMA/Articles/www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents/http://www.rma.usda.govmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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PAGE 14
Continued on page 15:
The 13th Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration cele-brated the
200th year of commercially growing cran-berries. New this year for
CCCGA, out at Frog Foot Bog at the A.D. Makepeace Company in
Wareham, were two new activities for guest interactions. First off
was the traveling and well talked about “Cranberries 101 Neighbor
to Neighbor” presented by me, where guests were engaged in a
35-minute colorful, picturesque slide show that pulled the view-ing
audience into the up-close and personal activi-ties on the
cranberry bogs each season. Since the presentation space was shared
with the popular “Eyes on Owls” presentation, there was a packed
tent of folks and great audience participation when it came to
discussing technologies on the bog. Most folks of course are
residential home owners and they could relate to timed irrigation
for their lawn sprin-klers, so my job was relatively easy when it
came to talking about water conservation at the cranberry bogs. As
you can imagine, no stone was left un-turned when it came to
explaining the: who’s, what’s and why’s of our industry. Each major
growing sea-son component was presented, along with why our
industry incorporates Best Management Practices. My honest opinion
for a take home message after each presentation was the fact the
these visitors to-tally respected our UMass Cranberry Station
re-search support systems, efforts growers make to ensure a safe
environment for pollinators and they all walked away with an
overall understanding, that we as farmers must be vigilant while
remaining re-sponsible to the environment while trying to stay
profitable on the farm. I polled the audience, and asked for folks
to shout out how many acres they owned, and as you can imagine most
folks either had a quarter of an acre to maybe up to 2 acres of
land. When I shared the 65,000 acreage magnitude and importance of
open space, you could see into the eyes of these folks and many
were in total “awe” that this industry does take seriously our
responsibil-ities to the environment.
Also new for CCCGA was a special tent dedicated for the purposes
of show and tell about sustainable farming practices. This display
was well received and there was even a lot of conversations with
visit-ing farmers that attended from Missouri, Ohio, New York and
Texas. All were dairy and crop farmers who were enamored with the
level of sophistication this industry has and how this industry
embraces technology. Honestly, it made me feel proud to be part of
our cranberry industry here in Massachusetts.
Having both of these new activities adjacent to each other
helped to direct those folks who wanted to continue their cranberry
conversation with me.
One common thread we all share, is to be the most efficient, be
the best stewards of our farms and surrounding properties, take
responsibility for the future of agriculture, as farmers we all
share the long term optimism while realizing agriculture faces
challenges of being sustainable into the future and what does the
future of agriculture behold for their family. The dynamic core
that we all embrace is survival for the next generation and what
will that look like, but let’s also be realistic, the dairy/hay
farmers I spoke with from New York said the next generation won’t
happen with them, decisions that are tough to make and you hear the
sorrow in the husband and wife team, they have a son who would be
the third generation, but feel it’s irresponsible leaving the farm
to their son, with so much volatility in the milk prices. Honestly,
I had no idea that I would ever be having these conversations with
farmers from New York or across the country. Another observation,
is the fact that these folks are paralleling the same scenarios as
this industry, most have other sources of non-farm income which
helps with cash flow.
I know I have mentioned year in and year out, our cranberry
harvest becomes a destination vacation for folks planning their
vacations. These out of state folks didn’t just stumble upon the
13th Annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration, this harvest season was
the check off to a “Bucket List” item that was going to be
achieved. It’s always an honor and privilege to talk about farming
cranberries in Massachusetts, but to actually meet four farming
families under the sustainability farming tent and share our common
threads was energizing. Especially since all of agriculture is
being challenged, it’s a seven day a week career path and
lifestyle, we as the farmers need to keep our voice resonating the
facts of farming.
These two opportunities were met with such enthusiasm, yet I
take pride in knowing that statistically as farmer’s we represent
only .5 percent of the population. The festival is our opportunity
to reach out and meet face to face with consumers of cranberries,
answer questions, garnish respect for the mystique of what we do on
a daily basis.
"OUT AND ABOUT"
BY: DAWN GATES-ALLEN
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STEAM ACADEMY - Wareham Middle School
The Cranberry Paragraph
By: Andre Silvia - 7th Grade Student
with Janice Barton - STEAM Teacher
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Out and About continued from previous page:
New at the bogs: The Hortau System for timing water and checking
nutrients arrived in early October. On the 6th a man named Cody
Jones from Wisconsin, along with Peter Beaton and a woman named
Erica Rad-ke from Beaton Cranberries, told us about how the system
works and why it is important for our mini-bogs. Students helped
install the system and will be monitoring it this year.
Mr. Egger’s Science Classes: Mr. Egger’s science classes have
been conducting an experiment to see if the newly constructed
tennis courts ( that are right next to the cranberry bogs) and
their blacktop surfaces have been affecting the cranberry bogs.
Students have divided the mini-bogs into quadrants so they can keep
track of the vines and be responsible for their section.
Temp of the cranberry bogs so far: The temp of the soil was
colder than the air temp the blacktop was 89 degrees F.
Several WMS STEAM students recently attended the Cranberry
Harvest Celebration to talk about the Cran-berry Bog Outdoor
Classroom. They were able to display their newly completed signs
that will be installed in the bogs to provide information to
visitors.
This year students will be creating a cranberry log and
cranberry curriculum to support the CBOC and its use.
Allowing visitors to step into our world helps to create synergy
while learning to process a little bit about where their food comes
from.
On behalf of CCCGA we would like to say “thank you” to our
volunteers comprising of Mass Maritime Cadets, UMass Cranberry
Station, Farm Family Insurance, Growers and CCCGA staff family
members, they came with nothing but pure enthusiasm and helped
showcase our industry. Areas the volunteers helped with are as
follows: Guided Wagon Tours, CCCGA Store, set-up and breakdown of
the display and saleable items. Dick Blair, Eric Brundage, Anne
Cote, Michael Cote, Nicholas Cote, Roseann DeGrenier, Carolyn
Gilmore, Cass Gilmore, Erin Gilmore, Linda Gordon, Jared Hass, Jack
Hayes, Jeff Kapell, Alex Kapell, Dan Mullen, David Ross, Marty
Sylvia, Colin Slater, Kay Slater, Steve Ward, Dalton Wick, Emma
Wick, Walter Zahn, Brian Wick, Patti Silvia and Dawn
Gates-Allen.
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or [email protected]
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IN MEMORIAM REMEMBERING OUR CCCGA MEMBERS AND FAMILIES
Frederick W. Weston passed on October 11th with his family by
his side. Fred was a fourth generation cranberry grower and a
member of the CCCGA for many years. He owned and operated his own
electrical business. He served as a Carver Volunteer Fire Fighter
for 30 years. He was a member of the Carver Sportsmens Club, an
avid gun and bow hunter, and loved family, friends and the
outdoors. Our sincere sympathy.
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This is a reminder from MassDep that the annual Water Management
Act renewal forms will be mailed out shortly. Each registrant needs
to complete and submit an annual statement of withdrawal on a form
provided by MassDEP by the date speci-fied on the form. The
regulations have changed and MassDEP can now terminate a
registration if a registrant fails to file a complete and accurate
annual statement of withdrawal in a timely manner. Again, the forms
have not yet been mailed, so be on the lookout!
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Many of you may have seen the recent research article and
subsequent editorial that was published in the Journal of the
American Medical As-sociation (JAMA), which has spawned a flurry of
activity on the Internet. The study involved cranberry supplements,
citing that they did not pre-vent urinary tract infections and the
accompanying editorial stated among other things that “It is time
to move on from cranberries.” The cranberry industry, led by the
Cranberry Institute has been working to refute the many flaws in
the study and the misleading statements in the editorial. For more
information and to read CI’s position, visit the infor-mation on
their web site
http://www.cranberryinstitute.org/HCP/cranutiresponse.html. For a
recent article that dispels the JAMA study see
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/JAMA-rejects-cranberry-for-UTI-industry-says-Yale-study-infected-with-fault.
http://www.cranberryinstitute.org/HCP/cranutiresponse.htmlhttp://www.cranberryinstitute.org/HCP/cranutiresponse.htmlhttp://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/JAMA-rejects-cranberry-for-UTI-industry-says-Yale-study-infected-with-faulthttp://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/JAMA-rejects-cranberry-for-UTI-industry-says-Yale-study-infected-with-fault
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Kathleen Skelton Director of Strategic Marketing
Fiber Optic Center, Inc.
Direct: 508-717-8393 or 508-992-6464 with ext. 8393
Mobile: 617-803-3014
[email protected]
Visit Fiber Optic Center: http://focenter.com
Visit Technical Horsepower Consulting:
http://technicalhorsepowerconsulting.com
Gates Cranberry LLC Proudly Supporting
5th Annual Grumpy 5K
In Memory Of David L. Gates
1941 - 2014
November 5, 2016
Cape Cod Five is pleased to support the
Cranberry Educational Foundation
mailto:[email protected]://focenter.comhttp://technicalhorsepowerconsulting.com
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Rob Rubini spoke with NECN about the drought effects on
harvest.
Steve Ward and Matt Beaton (not pictured) spoke with the
Associated Press.
Fred & Dawn Allen talked with the Boston Globe.
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Left to Right: State Representative Keiko Orrall, Senator Vinny
deMacedo, Representative Steve Howitt , Representative Susan
Williams-Gifford, Brian Wick, and Keith Mann. September 26, 2016
was officially named cranberry growing day and we also celebrated
200 years of cultivated cranberries.
The A.D. Makepeace Company hosted a “Bog to Table” dinner at
their Frog Foot Bog in Wareham. This was a unique
dining experience for guests to enjoy a delicious meal featuring
cranberries, under a heated tent, while watching the sun
set over the bogs. Waders were available, allowing visitors to
enjoy cocktail hour amongst the corral of berries!
Photos courtesy of: Andrew Griffith & A. D. Makepeace
Company
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Rhapsody in Red panels were displayed at the Bristol County
Agricultural High School the and Cranberry Har-vest Celebration.
(Pictured above) Rhapsody in Red is a visually stunning 7-panel
display, depicting the history, heritage, innovation, conservation
and beauty of Massachusetts cranberries. The creation of this
display was generously donated by the Cranberry Research
Foundation. The panels are available for use by local venues,
museums, libraries, etc. If you know a location or have an event
where this display may be appropriate, contact Dawn at 508-866-7878
x 10 for availability.
Alison Gilmore Carr and Dawn Gates-Allen prepare for
Massachusetts Day at the Big E.
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In October, Senator Elizabeth Warren visited Mann Farms to learn
more about Massachusetts cranberries.
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CCCGA recently visited with the Boston Area Diplomatic Missions
as they learned about the cranberry industry. These people are
primarily from their respective Consul Generals offices in Boston,
representing their various countries, such as Jsoan, Mexico,
Columbia, Netherlands, Norway, Germany and more. Ocean Spray
coordinated the event and had the tireless support of
Representative Keiko Orrall (R-Lakeville). We met at Ocean Spray
headquarters where the guests learned about the history of
Massachusetts cranberries, the Ocean Spray cooperative, market
opportunities, health research, etc. then we went to Slocum Gibbs
Cranberry Company in Carver for a bog tour. This type of visit can
help with future foreign market initiatives.
A New Look for cranberries.org If you haven’t noticed, CCCGA
launched a new web site this harvest season. The updated site has a
dy-namic new look and is compatible with the latest technology,
notably which it will render properly on mo-bile devices. The site
is targeted at a consumer audience, highlighting Massachusetts
cranberries and our 200th celebration. The grower section will be
revamped shortly with more updated content. One of the appeals of
this new web site is that it has been built with the latest web
tool, Drupal, allowing for easier updating by CCCGA staff. In fact,
any one of us can now update any page of the site without needing
to know coding. This will enable us to be more efficient while
providing more updated content. Check out the site at
www.cranberries.org.
http://www.cranberries.org
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FLUMES FOR SALE Concrete & ADS Pipe • Installation
Available
Johnson Cranberries: 508-277-7035
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FOR SALE: Brand New - Walk behind Power Fertilizer/Sand Spreader
Holds 500lbs of granular material- great for smaller acreage to
fertilize or sanding and landscaping asking $5500.00 Contact (508)
951-6200
FOR SALE: Carlson 3-wheel picker, hydraulic reverse head. Make
offer. 3 piece Gephart 10’ reel - just the head. Make offer. John
at 781- 910-3614
FOR SALE: 1980 Ford 10 Wheel Flat Bed Dump Body truck - New
engine less than 1,000 miles on it and new tires asking $11,000.00
Contact (508) 951-6200.
FOR SALE: 4-wheel drive bog sander 1 1/2 yd capacity, for
details call 508-830-1001.
FOR SALE: 8 ft Gebhart pruning machine $3,000.00, 10 ft picking
harrow for tractor that come with 2 front bars and 4 bars that fit
the 3 point hitch $5,000.00 Please call Dave: 508-326-9590
FOR SALE: 2 Hale Pumps - 10 horse with primer. $400. each or
best offer. Call John at 774-222-1415
FOR SALE: 36 acres of cranberry bog - "Ocean Spray Exhibit A"
which has an excellent water supply. Includes 1 residential house
lot - for a total of approximately 130 acres off Hiller Road in
Rochester, MA. $1.3 million or best offer. For more information,
please call Ray or Dave at 508-295-0497.
FOR SALE: Bog sander - 2 wheel drive, Briggs & Stratton 18
hp engine, good condition-$5,000; 4WD sander w/ 23hp Kohler &
small blade -$7,500; walk behind herbicide spreader w/ 4 Gandy
hoppers & foam marker-$1,500; assortment of Berkeley flow &
irrigation pumps from 5hp to 20 hp. Call Jeff: 508-776-1767.
FOR SALE: Berry Truck, Ford F-800, 32,000 GVW, new 429 engine,
20 foot bed, good tires, safe and road worthy. Call 802-467-1193
ask for Don
FOR SALE: Property For Sale: 0 Meadow (Rear) St., Carver. 44+
acres with 2 bogs, totaling 8.8 acres, interior lot, which abuts
the Weweantic River. $150,000. Call Janet: 508-364-0319
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Grower Contact : Jonathan Ashley Senior Manager Grower
Relations
508-763-3520 [email protected]
WANTED: 1-5 acres of cranberry bog, eligible for agricultural
production. I am not a coop member, and I am looking to farm
agricultural products other than cranberries, so the cur-rent state
of the cranberry plants does not matter. The bog must be within 30
minutes of the Bourne Bridge, and ideally on Cape Cod. Thanks, Dan
Ward email: [email protected], cell: 603-505-0865 WANTED: Gravely
Pruner, any condition. Call Kirby at 508-863-6106. WANTED: Furford
harvester in good condition. Please call Wayne at 508-432-1556
WANTED: Looking for a few Western cranberry dry pick-er machines
to refurbish. Damaged ones are also ok for parts. Please call
Benoit Richard 506-523-3844
WANTED: Independent 61A cranberry bog. Acreage de-pending on
price and in any state of repair. Please call Dave:
781-858-6810.
WANTED: Bulk Cranberry Bins, new or used Call Tom Jones @ (617)
513-4487
WANTED: Cranberry bogs, with or without a house. Will consider
lease or purchase, prefer minimum of 10 acres of bog. Please call:
413-834-8873 or email:[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
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