AccuWeather's Ali Reid stepped into a cranberry bog in Chatsworth, New Jersey, to explore how this year's harvest has rebounded after last year's drought left farmers facing a crisis.

Chatsworth

The Lee Brothers Farm in Chatsworth, New Jersey, has started its annual cranberry harvest, with the team expressing optimism after overcoming a challenging previous year. The farm has adopted more efficient harvesting techniques, requiring less water and streamlining the process, which is expected to benefit both productivity and sustainability.

Cranberries are collected from flooded bogs using specialized equipment that washes and sorts the berries, with water being recycled throughout the process. The farm is part of the Ocean Spray cooperative, meaning their cranberries are used in the well-known juice brand. The improved conditions and innovations suggest a strong season for the farm and the local cranberry industry.

Cranberries are making a comeback

We're live from Lee Brothers Farm in Chatsworth, New Jersey. A little chilly this morning, but that is not stopping the team here from starting their harvest. The harvest officially started yesterday here on the farm. And look at them going. I mean, it really is remarkable what they've started to do so far this season. And the cranberry looks absolutely gorgeous. Join with me live this morning, Jen Lee. Good morning. From the Lee family. Yes, indeed. How are you? It's gorgeous here this morning. I'm great. It's a beautiful morning. The harvest started yesterday. I was here for that. Rainy day. But you guys said, we're happy because that's exactly what you guys want. You want the rain for the cranberries. We will take it. Any bit that we have, we will take it. Talking about the harvest last year. You know, we spoke to your dad earlier. You guys came off of a year of crisis. It was a hard year for you guys. You made it through, which is good. But now the question everyone has is, how are you guys looking this season? I think we're looking great. I mean, after last year, all we can say is onward. I mean, we did what we needed to get by and we survived. And now here we are again, and it's looking good. I'm really happy to hear that because obviously so many farms struggled. But the good thing is, is that things are looking good. It looks amazing. I want to just grab them with all my hand and just like start eating them. I'm not going to do that though, I promise. But what I want to do is, I want to talk about the operation behind us here. There's a lot of things happening. So if you can, kind of on a broader scope, walk us through what's happening behind us right now. So essentially you have walked into a bog that we have already corralled and pulled all the berries in. And now behind us, we have a suction box that is actually pulling the berries down. And it's taking it up into the machine where they simply get washed off. The clean berries get loaded into the trailer. And then actually we're recycling water at the same time. So the water that we use to wash the berries is coming over top of the tractor and into a trash truck because we're always recycling our water. And so this process, what, and I want to back up just for a second too, because the bog that we're in, this is not what it looks like on a daily basis. These cranberries grow on vines and then you fill, wait, what is it? Fill the bog? Flood the bog. I'm going to get it right, I promise. You flood the bog to be able to get those berries once you use the picker to bring them to the top, to then use them to get them out of here. So there really is an incredible process here, but how long does that growth take to get to the point where you guys are picking? Well, I mean, as far as like the process of it all, we've really cut down and made it much more efficient. We don't need as much water to pick anymore. The old picker that we used to have, we needed to flood the bog for at least 24 hours. We don't do that anymore. So we need a lot less water, which also helps us out in the long run. Now, the last thing is, you guys are filling the truck right now. We only have a few more seconds here, but you guys will take those cranberries off to the facility. And fun fact, you guys are owner growers a part of Ocean Spray. So if you drink the cranberry juice, the Ocean Spray, you guys provide those cranberries. It's really amazing.

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