Cranberry Station Newsletter 2026 Vol. 27:1

2026 UMass Cranberry Management Update Meeting

• Wednesday, January 28, 2026

• 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM

• Registration fee is $60 per person

   

• 4 pesticide credits are available (8:00 AM – Noon)

This will be a hybrid meeting; you can choose to join via Zoom or in-person. Meeting will be held in the AD Makepeace Meeting Room, at the UMass Cranberry Station. In-person seating may fill up fast due to room capacity allowance. Please return the meeting form as soon as possible to get your preferred attendance choice. Please contact Robyn Hardy at rmhardy[at]umass[dot]edu (rmhardy[at]umass[dot]edu) or 508-970-2635 to register.

TENTATIVE AGENDA

7:30 Check in starts, in-person coffee chat  

7:40 Zoom Info Starts – Marty Sylvia

7:50 Station Update – Angie Jagiello

8:00 Insect Challenges in 2025 and options for 2026 – Marty Sylvia

8:45 Virus Review, False Blossom and fast-moving bloom! – Lindsay Wells Hanson, NJ OS

9:15 Weed Management, Research, and Pesticide Updates – Katie Ghantous

9:45 Coffee and Stretch Break

10:00 Weed Management, Research, and Pesticide Updates – Katie Ghantous 

10:30 Disease Management in 2025 and options for 2026 – Leela Uppala 

11:00 Late Water and other management options – Salisu Sulley

11:30 Drones in Ag update – Giverson Mupambi, Marty Sylvia and invited growers

12-1 Lunch Break on your own: Zoom takes a break, in-person may want to bring your lunch!

1:00 Deer Management in and around Cranberry – Martin Feehan, Mass Wildlife

1:30 Free Energy Audits – Griffin Pelaia, UMass Ag and Energy Engineer

2:00 Tailwater recovery – Casey Kennedy, USDA-ARS

2:30 New Cultivar and Drone Research - Giverson Mupambi

3:00 Nutrition Needs Assessment and Phosphorus in New Hybrids - Peter Jeranyama

3:30 Spring Frost Forecasting- Sandeep Bhatti

3:50 Correlating Spectrographic Data to Nitrogen Status of 3 Cultivars – Jeremy Foote 

2025 Cranberry Summit: Crop in Review Notes

The 2025 Massachusetts Cranberry Crop Summit was held on December 9, 2025, at the UMass Cranberry Station. The meeting was attended by 49 cranberry growers, handler representatives, and staff from both the UMass Cranberry Station and CCCGA with the goal of reviewing the growing season and identifying successes and new challenges. The meeting began with recaps from the handlers and ag sales companies, a weather summary from Peter Jeranyama, followed by a round table discussion by the growers.  This is a summary of the key points.   

HANDLER AND AG SALES PERSPECTIVES 

Ocean Spray: The 2025 crop for Massachusetts was slightly lower year-over-year (YOY) and versus the 5-year average. For the most part, this was an average year. The most noteworthy difference for the year was higher fruit quality. Percent poor and dry trash were significantly lower YOY and versus the 5-year average. 

The harvest started early and was interrupted by a strong storm in mid-October but otherwise followed the typical schedule. All popular varieties followed the very slightly lower median yield except Haines which were slightly higher.  

Decas Cranberry: Color/TAcy was poor to average this year which was likely due to better quality results (white fruit at the bottom of the canopy did not rot out and therefore skewed TAcy results downwards). Early ripening varieties came in with similar results to the past few years, but we saw lower color results on many Ben Lear, Stevens, and Howe deliveries. Overall, percent poor / percent unusable fruit was lower this year than what we have seen over the past few years.  

For rainfall, the months of April, June, August, and September were all lower in rainfall totals than the previous growing season. Entering into the harvest period, many growers were apprehensive about their farm’s pond/reservoir levels and whether they would be able to flood multiple fields at once to keep their harvest crews working. Ultimately, the month of October provided significant rainfall to the region and brought the season’s rainfall totals to slightly above average. Total volume received at the (Decas) Carver site was down approximately 10% with many farms coming in with volume reductions anywhere between 7% to 60% from the previous year’s harvest.  

Lassonde Pappas: Lassonde received the best quality fruit that we have seen in the past few years. The yields for Lassonde growers were down, with 2 growers attempting to pick a piece and choosing not to deliver due to the lack of fruit (not due to quality issues). The color on early varieties was up compared to last year, but that trend did not continue for the later varieties. The color was good but not increased over past years. A few growers contacted us early in the spring and were very concerned about getting any fruit off their bogs due to winter damage. These growers kept in touch and were surprised that the vines did produce a crop. Although they had lower yields on those beds, they were able to pick a crop. 

Nutrien Ag Solutions: Growers purchased more spring fertilizer than in past years, especially products such as SulPoMag and other products to support plants impacted by winter injury. Overall, set fertilizer sales decreased. For fungicides, more mancozeb was sold this year while copper sales were down. This is likely because it was a dry season and less growers were choosing to use late season fungicides. Diazinon was very hard to source, and Fanfare sales were up almost twice as high as last year. Many growers did soil samples through Nutrien this year.  

2025 WEATHER SUMMARY

• Winter (Dec-Feb): the average temperature was 30oF. This was lower than the 2024 average of 34.6oF and 1.3oF lower than the long-term average (LTA; represents a 30-year period).   

• Spring (March -May): the average temperature was 49.2oF, 2.9oF higher than the LTA. Spring had 15.3 inches of rainfall, 1.6 inches greater than the LTA. 

• Summer (June-August): the average temperature was 71.4oF, 2.3oF lower than the LTA. Summer had a rainfall deficit of 2.88 inches with a total of only 8.1 inches. 

• Fall (Sep-Nov): the average temperature was 53.3oF, the same as the LTA. October had excessive rainfall resulting in greater than normal total rainfall for the fall period, in excess of 5.6 inches.  

During the winter of 2025, the cranberry industry experienced weather conditions that carried a risk of severe winter injury in February. It is likely that 2-3 days with temperatures below 20°F would be enough to freeze the soil. The nighttime temperatures on Feb 11 and 12 were 3oF and 2oF, respectively. The average temperature of these two days was only 19oF. “Winterkill” is common injury that is classified as a ‘physiological drought’ when moisture lost from the vines due to wind and evaporation cannot be replaced due to freezing in the root zone. The symptoms are leaf discoloration and eventual drop. Such injury can occur within 3 days if the root zone is frozen to a depth of 4 inches, air temperature is below freezing, and strong winds (10 mph or greater) occur. 

The following two days of February 13 and 14 had an average temperature of 35oF. It is suspected that that the differences between these four days provided a freeze and thaw cycle that could be associated with some serious winter injury to cranberry buds. 

The spring frost season was 40 days starting on April 21. Five of these nights were either dangerous or very dangerous frost nights. The total number of frost nights for the season ranged from 6 to 12 nights depending on location. 

For 2025 frost protection determinations by the CCCGA frost committee, both the spring and fall frost notifications went out 17 times (17 warnings during each part of the season) and most growers ran approximately 5 nights for frost protection in the spring and 1 or 2 nights for fall frost protection. 

There was a hail event in July, and some growers reported that they lost fruit in areas that were impacted by hail. 

TOPICS FROM THE GROWER ROUND TABLE 

Winter injury:  Some growers did not or were not able to flood during the extreme cold weather period, and those locations had significant winterkill injury (defined as physiological drought stress that occurs when moisture lost from the vines cannot be replaced due to freezing in the root zone). But atypically, even some growers that did flood during the cold snaps still experienced winter injury. One grower reported that they had winter injury on a bed where there was ice, but the water under the ice had been drawn down. He suspected that wind may have passed under the ice. Another grower felt that the lack of snow on top of the ice may have increased the vine stress from the cold weather. Most growers agreed that the drought and stress from 2024 harvest led to increased susceptibility to winter injury in early 2025.  

Several people said in early spring they were estimating that their yield would be significantly down due to winter injury, but that beds made surprising recoveries in many cases. Many people indicated they put a lot of effort into “babying” the vines in spring (using spring fertilizers and soils supplements) and making effort to dial back the overall nitrogen. Some reported that the fruit was much smaller on beds that had injury.  

Many growers noted that despite the winter injury and leaf drop early in the season, there was very little trash in the harvest water or removed by harvest. They questioned whether the amount of leaf litter in the duff layer would come up in winter floods.  

Weather and soil conditions, general plant physiology: It was a dry season. Growers discussed the major inconsistencies in rainfall, with some noting that bogs only 5 miles apart received drastically different amount of rain.  Cody Jones from Horteau noted that he had many instances this year when the soil was so dry that the vacuum creating suction in the probes broke and he had to reinstall the probes.  

Jeff Utley (Nutrien Ag) mentioned that some of the soil samples Nutrien processed for growers showed that pH was shifting out of the normal range (now around ~5.7). There was some discussion around this topic, with growers mentioning factors such as the loss of acid rain, effect of bog age on pH (new beds will have higher pH which will adjust lower as the bed ages), and questioning if the pH of irrigation water can change the soil pH. 

Some growers noted that certain hybrid varieties (like Mullica Queen and BGs) had scattered bloom occurring in the fall, and that some of those flowers actually set fruit. One grower felt this happened more on new beds that may have been over fertilized. Rod Serres (Ocean Spray) noted that this second bloom is common in Oregon, and that it is likely due to some climate stress releasing the newly formed bud from dormancy.  

Several growers commented that the fruit on native varieties (Early Black and Howes) seemed smaller this year. Many growers found that color came on strong early in the season. While some growers had lower yields this season, one large grower reported they had the third best crop in their history, with beds that received sand and late water having higher yields (rather than the typical reduction in yield seen when these practices are used).  

Insects: Although most felt insect pressure was relatively low, some growers struggled with specific pests. One large grower had extremely high weevil counts, despite multiple insecticide applications. They have had to shift the threshold at which a spray is triggered from 20 to 30 or 40 per sweep set in their hot spot areas. The presence of bees for pollination hinders the timing of insecticide sprays (particularly scale). A grower noted they had no weevil on their organic bed.  

A few growers remarked that 2 well-timed fruitworm sprays eliminated the need for a third insecticide application. Growers discussed the unavailability of diazinon, the primary tool for managing scale, and what options for managing scale will be in the future. Marty noted that late water is effective. Some growers were interested in knowing if Fanfare, Sevin, or Movento after bloom could work. Marty noted that it could, but Fanfare is much wiser to use targeting weevil and black bug earlier in the season. Sevin is an option. 

Weeds: Poison ivy has been a problem for decades but is becoming worse in recent years. It seems to be growing low in the cranberry canopy, which makes the standard practice of wiping with glyphosate impossible. One grower felt that using mesotrione as a soil drench was effective for poison ivy control. 

Many growers reported success controlling poverty grass with clethodim products. Particularly, those using UAVs to apply clethodim in low volumes of water noted much more efficacy vs chemigation applications in large water volumes. Correct timing is still critical, regardless of application method (applied with a surfactant, on actively growing grasses before they flower and start to make seeds).  

Disease and fruit quality: Overall growers felt it was an excellent year for fruit quality. Some remarked that even though the amount of fruit picked was lower on some beds, they ended up with more fruit delivered because the quality was so high and little was lost compared to a typical year.  

One grower felt his Crimson Queen fruit had very poor quality, and much of it went through the ADM rot pool before it could be delivered.  

Growers questioned whether the typically recommended spray intervals between fungicide applications (7-10/14 days) is the best practice when bloom progresses very quickly.  

Drones: UAVs/drones were used by multiple growers to collectively apply over 1,000 acres of fertilizer and some pesticides like clethodim (Select Max, Intensity One) this season. There was a lot of excitement for the new application method, and the growers who did utilize drones last year were very pleased with the results.  

Other topics: Some of the growers that provide cranberry services for hire noted that more and more of the older growers are outsourcing their harvest operations. The bigger growers are harvesting more acres, and it is taking them longer to finish. There was discussion about how the handlers decided when and how long to keep their receiving stations open, and if there is a need for a shift or more flexibility in the future.  

A grower mentioned a need for information on economic decision making (cost-benefit analysis for management choices), and several others echoed this sentiment. 

Station News

CRANBERRY STATION ACQUIRES UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEM WITH CAPABILITY TO DISPENSE AGRICULTURAL INPUTS

The Cranberry Station (UMCS) is happy to announce that we have acquired an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for its drone research program with financial support from the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. The UAS is designed for heavy-duty spraying and spreading. It can cover large areas with high precision, offering a productivity rate of up to 50 acres per hour at low input rates. The maximum take of weight is 165 lbs with a granular payload capacity of 85 lbs and 8 gallons for liquids. The UAS is equipped with real-time kinematic positioning, allowing for centimeter-level accuracy when applying inputs. Planned research for 2026 includes comparing the efficacy of a ‘traditional’ chemigation application vs UAS and off-target drift. The research is in collaboration with the Massachusetts cranberry industry and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources with the goal of providing research-based Information to guide the development of regulations. For more information regarding the drone research program, you can reach out to Giverson Mupambi (gmupambi[at]umass[dot]edu (gmupambi[at]umass[dot]edu)).

DIRECTOR SEARCH UPDATE 

The Director search is currently underway with in-person interviews expected to take place from early February through mid-March. We are seeking growers who are interested in participating in one-on-one interactions with candidates as part of the interview process. Participating growers will have the option to meet with candidates over lunch or dinner. In addition, all growers are invited to attend candidate presentations, during which each candidate will share their vision for addressing the challenges and opportunities facing the Massachusetts Cranberry Industry.

If you are interested in participating in the one-on-one interactions, please contact Giverson Mupambi (gmupambi[at]umass[dot]edu (gmupambi[at]umass[dot]edu)). We appreciate your engagement and involvement in this important process.

2026 UMASS CRANBERRRY PESTICIDE SAFETY MEETING

SAVE THE DATE! The 2026 UMass Cranberry Pesticide Safety meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 8:00-NOON with 4 credits available. Agenda and meeting registration form to follow in the February newsletter.

2026 Newsletter Signup

TO STAY ON THE MAILING LIST, YOU MUST RENEW EVERY YEAR! Please contact Robyn Hardy at rmhardy[at]umass[dot]edu (rmhardy[at]umass[dot]edu) or 508-970-7635 to renew your subscription or to sign up for 2026.