Cranberries, blueberries, and the Concord grape are the only three major fruits that are native to North America. Any other native fruits do not have major marketability. Though Wisconsin is known for its apples and Door County cherries are prized, cranberries have long been Wisconsin's number one fruit crop.
Cranberries provide employment for over 7,000 people and contribute over $300 million to the state's economy. About 250 growers in 20 different counties are cranberry farmers, a profession that has been practiced in Wisconsin since the mid-1800s. Some marshes have been successfully producing a crop for more than 100 years.
An interesting side note is that most cranberry harvesting machinery is custom made. With only about 250 growers in the state, the demand for mass produced machinery is quite low. Most growers alter equipment made for other purposes or custom make the needed tools and equipment.
Wisconsin produces more than 300 million pounds of fruit annually. That is more than half of the estimated 575 million pounds of cranberries that Americans consume each year. The first cranberry marshes in the state date back to the 1830s, even before Wisconsin was a state. The first commercially grown cranberries in Wisconsin were produced near Berlin in about 1860.
Northland Cranberries, Incorporated is a Wisconsin based company producing slightly more than 5% of the juice sold in supermarkets. Massachusetts based Ocean Spray is the leading processor, handling an estimated 60% of the U.S. market. Only five processors control 97% of the cranberry crop.
Environmental Impact
Production marshes are found primarily from the center of the state to its northern border. Much of this land is sandy and not usually well suited to more traditional crops. Only about 10,000 acres of land is used for growing cranberries, growers maintain 110,000 acres of Wisconsin land. The additional acres are called support land and consist of natural and man-made wetlands, woodlands, and uplands. Although this support land is not used for crop growing, its network of ditches, dikes, dams, and reservoirs ensure the vast amount of water necessary for cranberry growing is always available.
This support land provides excellent wildlife habitat. The water maintained on these support lands is primarily to ensure water for the cranberry harvest, but it serves the additional purpose of stabilizing surface and ground water levels in adjoining wetlands. This makes weather extremes, drought or flooding, less of a danger to the cranberry wetland ecosystems. This provides a stable environment for both plants and animals.
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