Nov 6, 2023

Cranberry Marketing Order suspended in wake of vote

The USDA is no longer collecting assessments from cranberry growers and handlers after they voted to discontinue the Cranberry Marketing Order.

The marketing order regulated the handling of cranberries grown in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Long Island, New York.

Handlers are not required to submit assessments on cranberries handled during the 2023-24 crop year or reports, including those on acquisitions and inventory. During the suspension period, the Cranberry Marketing Committee, which locally administers the order, will use its financial reserves to fund promotion and other authorized activities.

This action follows the results of the referendum the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) conducted in June. AMS will conduct rulemaking and invite comments in the coming months to determine stakeholder and public support for terminating the cranberry marketing order.

The marketing order requires that USDA conduct a referendum every four years. The marketing order was favored by 26.5% of cranberry growers voting in the referendum and by 20.1% of the production volume voted in the referendum.

Either 50% support by number of voting producers or 50% of the volume of cranberries they represent was needed for the program and the Cranberry Marketing Committee to remain in place.

The marketing order, which was established in 1962, provides for the use of volume control in the form of producer allotments, handler withholdings, or a combination of both.

More information about the marketing order is available on the 929 Cranberries webpage on the AMS website.

Authorized by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, marketing orders are industry-driven programs that help producers and handlers achieve marketing success by leveraging their own funds to design and execute programs that they would not be able to do individually.  AMS’s oversight of fruit, vegetable and specialty crop marketing orders helps ensure fiscal accountability and program integrity.