With Cranberry Industry Reeling In MA, Farmers Turn To Ecological Resolution

While Massachusetts was once known for cranberry production, some farmers in the state are considering alternatives for their land. Chief among them is the state's Cranberry Bog Program, which helps to restore healthy wetlands on retired cranberry bogs.

There are about 13,250 acres of cranberry bogs in Massachusetts. But falling prices and other factors are causing farmers to reconsider, according to the Division of Ecological Restoration.

Over the last 10 years, the division, along with partners in local, state, and federal government, have helped restore wetlands and streams across hundreds of acres of retired cranberry farmland.

The country's chief producer of the Thanksgiving staple is now Wisconsin, according to The Associated Press. The Department of Agriculture estimates that Wisconsin will harvest 5.3 million barrels of cranberries in 2025, compared to 1.75 million in Massachusetts, which is down 22 percent from last year.

Combined with the unpredictable effects of climate change and the rising cost of production, many in Massachusetts are retiring their cranberry bogs, the marshes where the fruit grow on vines. Many bogs are on former wetlands, making them prime for conversion.

One example of converting the bogs into wetlands is at The South Meadow Restoration site in Carver. The goal of the $1.1 million endeavor is to make the bog into a 32-acre stream with native plants like steeplebush and flatsedge, as well as provide a habitat for wildlife like frogs, hawks, and muskrats, The Associated Press reported.

Another example is in Plymouth, where the Pinnacle Bogs Restoration project is seeking to protect land and restore wetlands on about 55 acres of cranberry farmland.

Government officials said that as of last year, 400 acres of retired cranberry bogs have been converted into wetlands, The Washington Post reported. The hope is to add another 1,000 acres in the next decade.

At the Cold Brook Eco-Restoration Project, wetland conversion was finished earlier this year and now a stream runs through the 66-acre site. River otters, egrets, and herons have all returned to the wetlands, according to The Associated Press.

Learn more about the Cranberry Bog Program at the Division of Ecological Restoration.