Wisconsin cranberry production totaled 5.04 million barrels in 2014, down from 6.02 million barrels in 2013, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The report, titled, Noncitrus Fruits and Nuts 2014 Preliminary Summary, stated that Wisconsin’s cranberry growers harvested 20,400 acres, down from 21,100 acres in 2013.
The average yield per acre, at 246 barrels, was down from the previous year’s record high 283 barrels.
The price of cranberries fell for the second year in a row, down from $32.00 per barrel in 2013 to $28.90 per barrel in 2014. As a result, the total value of utilized production declined 24 percent to $145 million.
Wisconsin did, however, maintain its number one ranking in cranberry production with 58 percent of the nation’s total. Wisconsin production was more than twice that of the next-highest producing state, Massachusetts.
