Damian Mulinix — East Oregonian Publishing Group Kim Patten, from the Washington State University Cranberry Research Station in Long Beach, holds an example of undersized berries grown in their bogs. “This year is probably not going to be a very good year: we bloomed late, and when we did bloom the weather wasn’t conducive to pollination.” Patten blamed this on a “new sensitivity in Peninsula weather systems” that directly affects the productivity of the crop.
Cranberry crop on the Peninsula may be vulnerable to climate change
By Cate Gable East Oregonian Publishing Group
The Long Beach Peninsula's most colorful crop relies on water.
That could be a problem.
"Cranberries are near and dear to my heart," says Washington State University Extension professor Kim Patten.
"This new sensitivity in Peninsula weather systems directly affects the productivity of our cranberry crop. Micro climate shifts can have enormous impact on the life-cycle of the berries, and subtle changes in the weather alter our crop production.
"This year is probably not going to be a very good year: we bloomed late and when we did bloom the weather wasn't conducive to pollination."
Most species of cranberry go dormant during the winter and need to accumulate a certain number of hours below 45 degrees before they come out of dormancy. Then the berries need a set of warm days to wake up and start their productivity cycle again. The time cranberries "wake up" has been shifting dramatically. This year they were two weeks later than last.
Older strains of berries like McFarland are more vulnerable to these climate pattern changes. Newer strains, like Stevens, Pilgrims and hybrids seem to fare better or are a little more immune to the climate changes, according to Patten
Carson "Steel" Sacks is a long-time resident and cranberry farmer for 43 years on 30 acres. He confirms Patten's observations. "Berries were real late this year, and we had poorer weather during bloom so we'll have a lousy crop." he says. "May and June are most important in setting a crop."
Pollination is also critical to setting the bloom during the early summer months. Beekeepers generally bring in their buzzing work force in the first week of June and pull them the first week in July. This year, as Sacks recalls, "There was a lot of bloom that didn't get pollinated or maybe the bloom wasn't viable to begin with."
Local cranberry farmers are intimate with the subtle changes in the weather.
"During the first four months of the year, it was considerably cooler than normal," Sacks said. "We had a hard four-day freeze starting Feb. 9, which my son and I are convinced has caused some serious damage. In early March, we had another freeze which compounded the bud damage and caused a certain amount of root damage. I think this all really hurt us on the later bloom."
Although Patten feels the region is in for continued disruption of the weather cycles, Sacks is not so sure, "This year is a special year. I can't relate it to a trend."
But Sacks does say, "I have no doubt that there is some effect of what man does on our planet. I'm kind of in between - I do think we have things that man contributes."
In 1945, when Sacks was a boy, he lived where the Long Beach golf course is now and remembers that the lake there was pristine and clear. He thinks that perhaps all the drainage on the Peninsula has had a long-term affect. During drought years, he notices considerably more "shrinkage" in the water supply than normal.
"A lot has changed since I was a kid. Breakers Lake is nothing but a swamp now, filled with grasses," he says. "Drainage on the Peninsula has accelerated, maybe we've over-drained some places. Spartina took over the bay. And there are too many people on the Peninsula. But the older I get, the less I know!"
