Farmers are thankful this holiday season for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) who bought $55 million worth of cranberries from farmers, which will speed up the payment process for farmers.
Farmers are producing cranberries at a faster rate than they are selling them which led the USDA to purchasing about 680,000 barrels of cranberries in the form of juice, sauce and dried berries to distribute to food banks and schools, reported Capital Press.
Before the USDA purchase farmers still had leftover surplus from 2013.
"The USDA purchase is a big deal, but it's not intended to be the silver bullet for all the problems of the industry," Cranberry Marketing Committee Executive Director Scott Soares said to Capital Press.
This is the most the USDA has ever spent on cranberries.
This will have a big influence on the profits of farmers because the the pool of 2014 cranberries may be exhausted sooner, Long Beach Peninsula cranberry grower Malcolm McPhail explained to Capital Press.
Independent cranberry growers are grateful for the big USDA purchasee, as it's difficult for them to profit off their crops. Before the USDA purchase cranberries sold for 10 to 15 cents a pound for fruit sold for processed products, which is about equal to the cost of production, said independent grower Alan Devlin.
The USDA purchase came just before Thnaksgiving - the most profitable time of year for cranberry farmers.
The next goal for cranberry farmers is to brand their product so it's consumed more frequently year-round.
"It (cranberry consumption) needs to be more of a year-round thing," Devlin said. "You don't want to depend on the government for anything."
