Welcome, everybody, to Midday Magazine for this Thursday, January 30th, 2025.
Have your host, James J. Mailov here, welcoming on their studio phone line, Allison, John
Jack, cranberry outreach specialist with our good friends at University of Wisconsin
Madison Division of Extension.
Allison, thank you so much for joining us.
Thank you for having me this morning.
I'm always glad to join.
How you been?
Very, very good.
It's been a very productive winter season so far in the cranberry world, both from
the extension standpoint and from the researchers standpoint and from the gorus standpoint.
So getting a lot done and doing our best to stay healthy as we move through the colder months.
Good to hear.
Good to hear.
And certainly, you know, we're a little biased about cranberries here in such a Wisconsin,
especially here in Wisconsin Rapids.
We were actually just talking with our Allison Darryl and a little bit about the cranberries
and a little bit of how much we love them around here.
But while we're really proud of them, one of the things that I think is also really interesting
is being able to dive into the, really the logistics and nuts and bolts about cranberries
and talking a little bit more about them.
And one of the things that I found interesting was the cranberry school in this successful
cranberry school.
That's kind of where we're going to start, Allison.
Absolutely.
So annually are our cranberry, the entire cranberry community.
So that's made up of the gorus association, which does have its headquarters in Rapids
and since that's where we have the most cranberry acres in Wisconsin is right here in Wood
County.
So the cranberry gorus association as well as UW-Madison and Extension and the USDA, along
with obviously all the vendors and people who have their livelihoods helping to support
cranberry growers in their farm operations all kind of get together for two days in the
middle of January.
We met at the Dels, I guess, just over two weeks ago now and had a really wonderful time
with 325 attendees.
It's a really lovely, kind of lovely, you know, bring everyone together.
All of the industry that supports cranberry gorus, we're able to have a trade show.
There's the pesticide training for growers who are ready for their recertifications to
make sure everything stays safe and happy in that world.
And then a lot of research presentations and a lot of networking.
So it was really good to get everybody together and feel free to ask more specific questions
if you've got, I know I just kind of gave a glossy overview, but I'm happy to dive
into anything too.
I appreciate that.
Thanks.
And Alison, one of the things that I appreciate about this too and the information you bring
to us is something like this and whether you work in the cranberry industry or not, whether
you like cranberries or not, you hear that.
And I have to think that I'm not the only one that hears, well, that is, that's for
the betterment of all of us, whether we're talking about our economy or our ag industry,
whatever that we may be talking about, sharing of information and being able to make connections
that you might not otherwise without this school is vital to the future of our ag industry,
our cranberry industry, our economy.
Absolutely.
And all across, all across Wisconsin, all across all the sectors, and I am also proud
of course, Wisconsin being the nationwide leader in cranberry production.
We did have people fly out from Massachusetts and New Jersey just to attend this show.
So it feels very good.
That's a great note on that.
And I want to piggyback off of that, Alison, because this is something that we talk about
traveling or sharing of information, but there's not a ton of categories where we're number
one.
And people are coming to us for information.
I find that very interesting, but also I think that's a real credit to our, to the industry
itself.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
We, we have really progressive growers in Wisconsin.
And I think one of the more kind of shining gem moments of this cranberry school in particular
was the grower panel where growers who have been trying out using drones for their, for
their, their input applications gave a presentation, they, you know, been trying it out for a couple
of years and now said, okay, we have enough information to share back with the rest of
the Gora community.
And so that was really popular as people are starting to think, are there ways that we
can get our applications made and get our, you know, measurements taken and that sort
of thing faster or with, with reduced manpower.
And so that was really well received by everyone.
That's really interesting.
And we're grateful for the growers who shared.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And this is something that I, I really credit Matt Lippert with him really opening my eyes
to this.
And, and the tech world and the ag world and how much they are hand in hand and working
together and, and making it better for all of us.
Yeah.
And that's one actually that we, as the cranberry growers who started this, or who, who have
been the pioneers in that world, saw it working first in cornfields.
And saw, okay, there are people who, who have little businesses that have drones to make
applications on contracts for different corn growers.
And kind of at first said, you know, well, maybe we could have someone do contract for
us.
But then realized, okay, we need a little more.
I need to say it has to be today and, and therefore I should have the drone myself rather
than, rather than have a contractor.
But seeing that, sharing across the ag sectors as well, when, when you see somebody else
with a good idea saying, well, how can I bring this good idea to make my farm?
And it's something that's noteworthy, certainly in this, in part of the industry, but really
throughout the whole ag industry, this has been noteworthy for quite some time.
And it's, I think it's, again, it's interesting, it's cool, but it also, it helps our economy,
helps our ag industry.
It's truly a win-win kind of thing.
Speaking of helping the ag industry and that, Alison, I was just looking at the temperature
and it's almost 40 degrees right now in the middle of January, at the end of January,
I should say.
And that throws you a little bit, especially long time, midwesterners like us and everything.
I'm curious of that, because of this stuff, how the ice conditions are, you know, helping
or not helping this year and how that differs from last year.
Well, I have to say, even though I hate to see it be 40 degrees today, this, this winter
is so far a lot better than last winter was.
One of the important practices that cranberry growers take advantage of is every fifth year
or so, they'll put down about a quarter-inch layer of sand.
And this layer of sand covers the vines a little bit and gives them a hormonal cue to send
out more runners and get fresh growth.
So kind of like a grape grower, like vineyards do pruning.
We don't have to go out and physically prune.
We just bury the old tissue with sand and let that spur the new growth process.
At the same time, making that sand application covers up old leaves from prior years and
gives us an extra, you know, an extra cushion.
It buries old pathogens.
It buries bug seeds a little deeper and so this super, you know, natural, easy, well, I
can't say easy, but this very straightforward, I can call it centuries old.
Because they notice this happening naturally out in Massachusetts.
So since resolved practice really gives us a big boost against disease, against insects
and toward having fresh growth.
So we love every winter if it was a cranberry grower's ideal world.
We'd have a really great cold snap and we'd put up 18 inches of ice and then we could
get out and do that sanding while also letting that ice protect the vines from the cold.
A person hates to see it be 40 today, but it does look like our ice is going to survive
in most cases since it looks like we will get to back below freezing again before too
long here.
And so right now, after the last winter, people have their sand and in generally that sand
comes from the cranberry marsh property itself.
So it's usually on farm sand that's the natural counterpart to the marsh there.
So everyone kind of makes a pile of their sand and they filter it to take out big rocks.
So everyone had their sand ready to go last winter and did not get to do sanding to speak
of at all last winter.
So this winter we kind of have even a little more sand ready because we want to make up
and kind of do two years worth, but it does look like we will at least get for a majority
of growers get that basic level of sanding in and we're very grateful for that.
After I kind of, you know who say it's been this way for centuries, having last winter
really startled a lot of people and said, okay, if we don't have ice, what are we going
to do to get our fresh vines, what are we going to do to get our pathogen protection,
what are we going to do?
And so that's actually one where we've had, with extension, we have virtual brown bags
and I actually hosted a grower panel this December with growers from Washington State and from
Massachusetts and New Jersey to kind of share that information, hey, if you don't have ice,
how do you get sand out?
And so their answer is barges and so they bring it out like floating water.
And so all green pre-grows and Wisconsin right now are saying, all right, I hope it doesn't
come to that.
I really hope it doesn't come to that, but at least we were able to share that information
and we've got a place where we can start thinking and we can start developing new machinery
or whatever might be needed in case the world does develop that way.
We're not going to be caught flat-footed.
You know, this, and I think this is so key, not just with this industry or with the
ag industry, but just in general going forward.
And I find a lot of encouragement in what that answer you just gave and not just again
for those factors, but just as a human being.
I just find that very cool and very interesting and I'm also a big believer in silver linings.
And while we wish that last winter was different and the ice conditions were certainly different,
it sounds like there were some positives to come out of that.
And I think we have the same kind of belief in, you know, the human power of rising to
the challenge and making the best of a bad situation.
And I'm always glad when we can share with growers and other regions, when we can share
ideas of what's worked.
And I do think that does bring nationwide our industry a little closer together when
we can say, hey, we know we're facing similar challenges.
How do you work through these?
And so I'll take that.
I'll take that as a silver lining if last winter needed us to get startled in order
to reach out.
Hey, I'm glad we reached out.
We're making those connections now.
And just like with information and the importance of sharing that and how much that rising tide
raises all boats, so can encourage them.
So can you know, you can be as you've touched on before, kind of a lighthouse at the end,
light at the end of the tunnel here, encouragement.
Well, if they can do this, maybe we can or what they're doing there, maybe we can with
our industry.
So not just with the cranberry industry, but other parts of the ag industry in general can
be a real, you know, really encouragement to people out there that are struggling with
this.
Very much so.
One that isn't a.
Oh, no, you go ahead, please, I was just going to say there's a similar vein.
There's an organic grower who's a little north.
I think when I to county that will often go to other organic conferences, not just within
the cranberry industry, because that's a fairly niche market and there's only so many people
to share with, but he saw people using geese to eat weeds.
And he then said, well, I'm going to try that too.
So we had an organic grower this summer get weeder geese to basically eat the weeds in
his new plantings.
And he can't have those in his production beds because obviously you can't have live
animals in the food chain.
But as long as he has those out two years before he starts producing harvest from those
beds and usually a bed takes four years to make a full crop.
So those first two years after he plants, he now has geese walking around eating about
90% of the weeds.
And that seemed really cool.
That is really cool.
That is really cool.
And I maintain there aren't many more creative people than people in this industry.
Just the creativity is awesome to see and really quick to hear.
We're speaking with Alison John Jack cranberry outreach specialist with our friends at UW Extension.
I'm curious Alison, do you think that the sanding is a cultural culture is going to get
bigger or just be more of a prevalent going forward?
Well, I mean, as far as sanding already, I want to say 100% of growers do it.
I actually got a call 100, yeah, if you, when you plant a cranberry bed, you expect
that to keep producing for 50 years, for 80 years, for 110 years.
The only reason you'd make a new planting is if you want to change varieties.
And the way that we keep our beds in production for 100 years, it couldn't happen without
that sanding practice.
If you think of like a lilac, you know, those lilacs, they get, if you know like an old
farmstead where they had lilacs and then no one's living in that house anymore and those
lilacs just get taller and taller and taller and they only have flowers in like the very
outside edge.
And then you kind of look through in the rest of the lilac basically is just dead old wood.
It would be the same with a cranberry.
If you never sanded it, you would never get your old tissue would just build up forever
and the old tissue doesn't produce as much fruit.
So we have to sand in order to keep those vines able to produce for 100 years.
I tell you, I do my homework for these interviews and I still learn stuff from you guys every
time you join us.
That's so interesting.
Thank you for that, Allison.
I appreciate that.
Absolutely.
And we do, we have an appreciation as well.
We want to send out for our local irrigation and water management companies out there.
Yeah.
I just wanted to, in addition, I kind of, I was inspired at our cranberry school having
for the first time in several years that double tracks.
So we had not only researchers present, but also a few experts in cranberry infrastructure.
And we had people present on some new, you know, feel information.
But we also had presentations on irrigation design in cranberries.
And while that focuses on frost protection in the season, you know, in the growing season,
it also does include that infrastructure that's required to let the cranberry growers put
a flood on when we have a cold snap and they want to take advantage of that cold snap
and make ice as fast as possible.
So I just, you know, people who are based in the central Wisconsin area.
So, you know, when you see Wisconsin flowgate or, or Testament brothers irrigation or
Roberts irrigation and then time well on the drainage front, like when you drive past
those places, when you see those trucks, you can smile and say, hey, I'm really grateful
for the extra, the expertise and the knowledge that you have and that you're able to share
with the cranberry growers to help make the cranberry growers lives easier and help keep,
help keep Wisconsin rapids and central Wisconsin and Wisconsin as a state, you know, top of
the industry and make everybody's lives a little bit better.
Years ago, we had two owners ago.
We had a new ownership coming in and we were going to be changing a lot of things here at
the station.
And I was talking to him and I was thinking a lot about our ag industry and a lot about
what we do here at WFHR for over 80 years.
And one of the things that stood out to me is we are like the ag industry.
We are locally grown and Marcus loved it.
We use it as a tagline to this day, locally grown radio.
But along with that, the buying local supporting local and how important that is to us and that
certainly is runs even deeper when we talk about our ag industry.
I don't know that there are many industries that bleed into everything else in our lives.
Like the ag industry does, whether we're talking about the food that we eat and we feed
to our loved ones or we're talking about our taxes or our economy or anything else.
And all of that being said, this doesn't happen without certain key companies, without
certain individuals out there that don't get highlighted very often.
I appreciate so much you doing this.
And when we talk about buying local supporting local, it extends farther than some of the
things that you think of off the top of your head or your mom and pop shops or just
even looking for the maiden Wisconsin red label on products and stuff.
Those are very important.
But just like as Ellison was mentioning there, these great companies as well that really
are supporting of what we're doing here.
And the expertise that you can't find, like it is really, really vital to have supporting
industries be locked up and local with the work that's being done, that's the best way
to solve problems when you can see what's going on.
And we're just really grateful, obviously, cranberries are a nish industry through and
through.
And as we talk about sanding and we talk about like, well, maybe I'll build a barge.
And it's a very individual sees a problem and an individual solves a problem.
Nobody else is going to solve it for you.
But those local partnerships and the local expertise really allows us to do that with a tight
feedback loop.
And so we're very lucky.
It's a really nice point.
You just maybe think of, you know, those original growers, those first
growers of cranberries in this area, in this state, to think of, I don't think anybody could
have imagined how big, not only this would be to our state, but how much pride we'd be
able to take in it, how much, you know, we'd be able to really use this, you know, cranberry
blossom fast, so many different things that we have around here that extend from the cranberry
growers.
And that's something else that's not worthy of two of this too.
That's pretty interesting.
Yeah.
And I just really love the fact that we grow cranberries exactly where nature wanted
them to grow.
It's that, you know, they, we said, well, what can we do at this land?
Well, there are already cranberries growing here.
Let's try to see if we can make it a little better.
And the native fruit of the state, really, yeah, it, I feel obviously so proud.
And I'm glad that I'm able to share that pride with so much of our community.
You know, we follow Mother Nature's lead, the great things that can happen, you know,
it's really something.
Absolutely.
Allison, always, always love talking with you and hanging out with you, looking forward
to hanging out and talking again really soon.
If people have follow the questions, they would like to know more about some of the topics
we've touched on here.
How can they reach you?
Absolutely.
So fruit.wisk.eu has a lot of the kind of the local, the recent deeper dives, you go
to fruit.wisk.eu and then backslash cranberries or there's a button you can click on for cranberries.
You can also email me, which is Allison.johnjackatwisk.eu.
And then another fun thing, if you really like to dive into agronomy, we have the cranberry
back to basics kind of little program that consists of about 30 little videos that we like
to offer when cranberry growers hire new, new people who aren't familiar with the cranberry
industry and want to get that quick agronomic background.
If you Google cranberry back to basics, you can look through that and find some pretty
fun, you know, intros to a lot of the world of cranberries.
So I'd encourage people to check all of those out.
Yeah, I second that.
I got to check that out a little bit myself and I really enjoy it.
And again, I do my homework for these interviews.
I feel like I know a lot and then I talk to you and I'm like, I just learn like 18 things.
I really enjoy it.
You do a great job, Allison.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Take care and we'll talk again real soon.
All right.
Take care.
So long.
Big thank you to our friends over at Extension, joining us like they do.
Big thank you to Allison, the whole team over there.
We'll see how to our friends at Extension.
We're going to wrap up Midday Magazine tomorrow.
We'll have a great one lined up for you.
In part one, Amy Schultz of Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes going to be joining
us.
That'll be a great one.
And in part two, we wrap up the week with the Charles and Joanne, Lester, Library
and Nikusa.
Darla Allen going to join us.
Our good friend Darla going to be here.
That's going to be a great wonderful way to wrap things up.
Be listening for that and more and keep in mind that you can find our podcasts of all these
interviews, past and present at civicmedia.us.
Just go to civicmedia.us, go under shows, Midday Magazine will pop up.
Click on that and you'll be able to find these, not only be able to listen to them yourself,
but share them and share these interviews on your social media.
You never know who might see them otherwise.
And we'll have more Midday Magazine coming up for you right here at 97-5 FM 13-20 AM.
WFHR, we are locally grown radio.
