Water may be short for some cranberry growers in Massachusetts
9/14/2022 12:02:31 PM
CATEGORIES:
Agriculture
Water Supply & Quality
AFFECTED AREAS:
Massachusetts
Barnstable County, MA
Start Date: 9/13/2022
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This has been a good year for cranberries in Massachusetts with the fall harvest expected to be 19% bigger than in 2021. Most growers had enough water to irrigate during the summer, using water stored in ponds. Rainfall at the end of summer arrived and refilled the ponds in time for harvest. Spring and early summer offered ideal weather conditions for cranberries. During drought, the fruit quality is often better as the bogs are drier and there isn’t excess moisture to cause rot.
Some growers, however, missed out on the rain and didn’t not get their irrigation ponds refilled, which may pose challenges for the harvest.
WCAI-FM Cape & Islands NPR (Woods Hole, Mass.), Sept 13, 2022
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