APRIL 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Cranberry prices
bottoming out Over-production, inventory blamed
by DAVID SCHMIDT
RICHMOND – The situation is bad and will likely get worse. The situation is bad but is getting better. This was the mixed message BC Cranberry Marketing Commission director Jeff Hamilton brought his fellow growers at the combined BCCMC and BC Cranberry Growers Association annual meeting in Richmond on February 22. His North American
cranberry industry report was definitely not what growers wanted to hear. There is a glut of cranberries in storage and prices are tanking as a result. In 2016, the industry
produced over 11 million barrels but sold only about 9.5 million barrels of fresh and processed cranberries. This includes 300,000 barrels the US Department of Agriculture bought to buoy the market. He notes US cranberry
acreage has increased from about 36,000 acres in 2000 to over 40,000 acres in 2016. Production has increased even more, up from about 156 million pounds in 2000 to over 225 million pounds in 2016. “There is no way we are able to sell as many cranberries as we are
growing,” Hamilton said, noting North American inventory is currently at 104.96% of sales, double what is required for an orderly market. “These are scary numbers,”
he said. “To meet the required market quantity, we would only need to produce 5.4 million barrels in 2017. Wisconsin alone will produce more than that.” He notes Wisconsin’s
cranberry acreage is “way up,” more than offsetting steep declines in Washington and Oregon. Quebec is mirroring Wisconsin’s expansion, increasing from 2,828 producing acres in 2004 to more than 9,500 acres in 2016. In contrast, BC’s acreage
has remained relatively steady, totaling just under 6,500 acres in 2016. Although last year’s BC production topped a million barrels for the first time ever, it has also been fairly constant the past four years. And that’s where the potential good news comes in.
Hamilton notes BC
production averaged only 148 barrels per acre last year, a far cry from the production achieved elsewhere. Chile is producing 254 barrels per acre while Quebec is producing a whopping 290
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barrels per acre. That means BC growers have huge opportunities for improvement, making the BC cranberry research farm critically important to the local industry. “We need to increase our yield per acre,” both Hamilton and BCCMC chair Jack Brown stressed, at the same time acknowledging that is a double-edged sword. While it will improve BC grower returns, it will contribute even more to an already saturated market. “If you convert low-
producing acreage into
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higher-producing acreage, the (marketing) problem will only get worse,” Hamilton stated.
Despite that, BCCGA chair Grant Keefer told his
members to “get out there and farm. If we can get us up to 200 barrels per acre, it won’t affect the market much but it will be good for us as local growers.”
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