CATCH THE BUZZ Cranberry Business Changing

CATCH THE BUZZ

Cranberry bogs may be moving to Canada from New Jersey. What happens to Cranberry Pollinators?

From FreshPlaza

The Joseph J. White Cranberry Farm has grown cranberries in Burlington County for more than 150 years and is recognized as a historic landmark at both the state and national levels. But the farm's owner, Joe Darlington, like many of his fellow cranberry growers, might relocate some of his operations out of state due to strict environmental regulations.

Darlington said he has repeatedly tried to expand his bogs, most of which were built in the 1800s, only to have those efforts blocked by the state Department of Environmental Protection. "We're plenty frustrated," said Darlington, a fifth-generation cranberry farmer who also had attempts to operate a fresh-produce stand and bus tours of his farm thwarted by the state. "We started here in 1857 and we'd like to keep it here, but New Jersey's regulations have really made it difficult for us."

DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said most, if not all, of the state's cranberry farms are located within the Pinelands National Reserve, which makes them subject to increased regulations. "One of the reasons the Pinelands National Reserve was established in the first place was to protect the pristine ground and surface water in the region," said Hajna, adding there is an estimated 17 trillion gallons of water in Pinelands aquifers.

Ned Lipman, who owns three cranberry farms in Ocean County, said these restrictions also often present problems in gaining access to water for farming and permission to plant in areas that are defined as wetlands. "It is challenging to be the grower of a plant that grows in the wetlands ecosystem in New Jersey today," said Lipman, who is also director of continuing professional education at Rutgers University's New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. "There is really just a philosophic difference on land use that exists."

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Hajna said the DEP established a general permit in the 1990s that allows for the expansion of up to 10 acres per year for up to five years but the substantial mitigation expenses created by this process turned off many growers. "There are some circumstances where there is no mitigation," said Hajna, adding the DEP has received only one permit request in more than a decade. "We'd be happy to talk to hear their concerns, but for whatever reason they haven't been applying for the permit."

Cranberry growers, however, appear to already have their bags packed. Darlington has scouted properties in Canada and is investigating possible locations in Delaware.
"Delaware's not a traditional cranberry-farming area," Darlington said. "But its close proximity to New Jersey and comparable weather could make it a good fit. And, from what I understand, it's a lot business-friendlier there."

Jeff Beach, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, said New Jersey's cranberry industry had an estimated value of $23 million in 2007, the third-most nationwide. "Certainly $23 million is a significant number, and cranberries - like tomatoes, blueberries and sweet corn - are identified with this state," Beach said. "It's definitely an industry that our department would not want to see any loss to."

But Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. - a cooperative made up of about 650 cranberry growers from Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Quebec and British Columbia - is on the verge of investing $58 million in new farms in eastern Canada, according to Stephen V. Lee III, a fifth-generation cranberry farmer and member of the Ocean Spray co-op.

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"That's money that could've very easily been spent to build new bogs, or expand native ones, in New Jersey," said Lee, who owns Lee Brothers Farm in Washington Township, Burlington County. "We see the industry that we play in is going to grow somewhere, even if it is unable to do so here. If we don't collectively take steps like this, someone else will build those bogs and there will be competitors that didn't exist before."

The Canadian government is also offering the co-op rent for nearly unlimited acreage at just $1 per year, Lee said. "It's an entirely different governmental approach," said Lee, who held off on renovating 10 acres of his 135-acre operation after being told by the DEP that his mitigation expenses would be more than $50,000 per acre. If this migration policy continues, Lee said, it could hurt the state's already-fractured economy.

"Ocean Spray is a $2 billion business, and 35 (percent) to 40 percent of its product is processed at a plant in Bordentown, which accounts for an untold amount of jobs," Lee said. "The risk exists where if the center of gravity shifts to Canada, instead of staying in New Jersey, the next processing plant won't be built in New Jersey. It will be built closer to Canada."

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