BDN interviews Armstrong about end of cranberry farming at Cherryfield Foods
Charles Armstrong, a cranberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, was quoted in a Bangor Daily News article about Cherryfield Foods announcing it will stop farming cranberries. The 2015 season was difficult, with prices dropping as low as 12 cents per pound for wet harvested cranberries, according to the article. Several of Maine’s approximately 30 growers declined to harvest this year because of low prices, the article states. Armstrong said losing Cherryfield Foods wouldn’t change much for Maine growers or markets because the Canadian-owned firm has not purchased cranberries in Maine and sells its berries in Canada.
Cherryfield Foods’ decision “shouldn’t affect the local markets whatsoever, good or bad,” Armstrong said. “Wyman’s has been the one buying most of the berries from the Washington County growers over the years,” he added. “So the real hardship would come if Wyman’s was to get out of the cranberry business as well.” Mainebiz also published a report on Cherryfield Foods.