Keeping Quality Forecast Archive

Format: 2024

2023 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

The final forecast is POOR keeping quality.

We obtained 4 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2023 Massachusetts cranberry crop. This score makes the final keeping quality poor.

The final keeping quality score of 4 was based on (i) Sunshine hours in February for the present year were less (133 hours) than 143 hours, which is the 50-year average for the month of February: 1 point. (ii) Total sunshine hours in March for the present year were greater (187 hours) than 179 hours, which is the 50-year average for the month of March (2 points). (iii) The total precipitation for April for the present year is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro of 6.70 inches (4.68 inches): 1 point.

Implications
  • This suggests that the fruit rot incidence could be high unless timely and effective disease management strategies are employed.
  • Fruit quality will be sacrificed if you significantly reduce your fungicide use.
  • Be conservative…

If the beds are cultivated for fresh fruit.

If the beds were not managed or sprayed with fungicides last year.

If the beds had significantly higher fruit rot in the previous year.

Additional Notes
  • Follow ALL label instructions, including application interval, recommended rates, water holding time and pre-harvest interval.
  • Alternate fungicides with different modes of action. Use FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) codes on the labels to determine the mode of action. Fungicides from the same FRAC codes have similar modes of action.
  • Above normal sunshine hours during June, July, and August (especially July) have been associated with good or better quality than predicted.

 

2023 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The forecast is for FAIR preliminary keeping quality.

As of April 1, there are 3 points out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2023 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The 3 points were awarded for sunshine hours in February which was less than 143 hours (1 point) and favorable sunshine hours in March which were greater than 179 hours (2 points). The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May. Based on the preliminary forecast, fruit rot fungicide applications and the rate of fungicides applied should not be reduced. As for the holding of late water, there are no definitive indicators pro or con. Growers should determine whether to hold late water based on bed conditions. Please check the table below and the section on late water in the Chart Book for advice regarding the implementation of this cultural practice. If you have any questions, please contact Leela Uppala 508-970-7644 or suppala@umass.edu. 

Late Water is Advised:

  • Once in three years for 4 weeks from Mid-April to Mid-May.
  • If your bog looks healthy and not showing any signs of stress.
  • The flower buds are still red and tight.
  • If your bed was properly flooded at the periods of coldest temperatures.
  • If the scale and/or fruit rot incidences were high in 2022.
  • If you have access to good quality water supplies.

Late Water is Not Advised:

  • If you held late water in the past two years.
  • If your bog produced a heavy crop in 2022.
  • If the buds have broken dormancy.
  • If the bed was sanded the previous year.
  • If the bog is stressed and shows signs of winter injury.
  • If your bog is severely out of grade.

 

2022 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

The final forecast is POOR keeping quality.

We obtained 4 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2022 Massachusetts cranberry crop. This score makes the final keeping quality poor.

The final keeping quality score of 4 was based on (i) The total of sunshine hours for March for the present year is more than the 50-year average (179 hr) for that month (196 hr): 2 points. (ii) Total precipitation for March for the present year is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro mean of 4.39 inches (3.51 inches): 1 point. (iii) The total precipitation for April for the present year is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro of 6.70 inches (6.34 inches): 1 point.

Implications
  • This suggests that the fruit rot incidence could be high unless timely and effective disease management strategies are employed.
  • Fruit quality will be sacrificed if you reduce your fungicide use drastically.
  • Be conservative…

 If the beds are cultivated for fresh fruit.

 If the beds were not managed or sprayed with fungicides last year.

 if the beds had significantly higher fruit rot in the previous year.

Additional Notes
  • Follow ALL label instructions, including application interval, recommended rates, water-holding time and pre-harvest interval.
  • Alternate fungicides with different modes of action. Use FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) codes on the labels to determine the mode of action. Fungicides from the same FRAC codes have similar modes of action. 
  • Above normal sunshine hours during June, July, and August (especially July) have been associated with good or better quality than predicted.

Leela Uppala and Peter Jeranyama

2022 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The forecast is for FAIR preliminary keeping quality.

As of April 1, there are 3 points out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2022 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The 3 points were awarded for sunshine hours in March which were greater than 179 hours (2 points) and the total precipitation for March is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro mean of 4.39 inches (1 point). The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May. Based on the preliminary forecast, fruit rot fungicide applications and the rate of fungicides applied should not be reduced. As for the holding of late water, there are no definitive indicators pro or con. Growers should determine whether to hold late water based on bed conditions. Please check the table below and the section on late water in the Chart Book for advice regarding the implementation of this cultural practice. If you have any questions, please contact Leela Uppala 334-728-1025 or suppala@umass.edu. 

Late Water is Advised:

  • Once in three years for 4 weeks from Mid-April to Mid-May.
  • If your bog looks healthy and not showing signs of stress.
  • If your bed was properly flooded at the periods of coldest temperatures.
  • If the scale and/or fruit rot incidences were high in 2021.
  • If you have access to good quality water supplies.

Late Water is Not Advised:

  • If you held late water in the past two years.
  • If your bog produced a heavy crop in 2021.
  • If the bed was sanded the previous year.
  • If the bog is stressed and shows signs of winter injury.
  • If your bog is severely out of grade.

Peter Jeranyama and Leela Uppala

2021 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

The final forecast is POOR keeping quality.

We obtained 4 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2021 Massachusetts cranberry crop. This score makes the final keeping quality poor.

The final keeping quality score of 4 was based on (i) the favorable sunshine hours for February (110 hr.) which were less than the 50-year average for that month (143 hr.), (ii) the sunshine hours in March of 252 hr. which are greater than the long-term average of 179 hr., and (iii) the total precipitation for April 2021 which was less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro precipitation of 6.70 inches. However, the average temperature for April and May for Middleboro were both above the required values to gain additional points. 

Implications
  • This suggests that the fruit rot incidence could be high unless timely and effective disease management strategies are employed.
  • Fruit quality will be sacrificed if you reduce your fungicide use drastically.
  • Be conservative…

 If the beds are cultivated for fresh fruit.

 If the beds were not managed or sprayed with fungicides last year.

 if the beds had significantly higher fruit rot in the previous year.

Additional Notes
  • Follow ALL-label instructions, including application interval, recommended rates, water holding time and pre-harvest interval.
  • Alternate fungicides with different modes of action. Use FRAC (Fungicide Resistance Action Committee) codes on the labels to determine the mode of action. Fungicides from the same FRAC codes have similar modes of action. 
  • Above normal sunshine hours during June, July, and August (especially July) have been associated with good or better quality than predicted.

Peter Jeranyama and Leela Uppala                                                                                   

 

2021 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The forecast is for FAIR preliminary keeping quality. As of April 1, there are 3 points out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2021 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The 3 points were awarded for sunshine hours in February which was less than 143 hours (1 point) and favorable sunshine hours in March which were greater than 179 hours (2 points). The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May. Based on the preliminary forecast, fruit rot fungicide applications and the rate of fungicides applied should not be reduced. As for the holding of late water, there are no definitive indicators pro or con. Some growers have indicated that vines are showing stress, this could be partly due to the prolonged drought of 2020 or winter injury among other possibilities. Growers should determine whether to hold late water based on specific bed conditions. Please check the table below and the section on late water in the Chart Book for advice regarding the implementation of this cultural practice. If you have any questions, please contact Leela Uppala at suppala@umass.edu or 508-295-2212 x18. 

Late Water is Advised:

  • Once in three years for 4 weeks from Mid-April to Mid-May.
  • If the scale and/or fruit rot incidences were high in 2020.
  • If your bog looks healthy and not showing any signs of stress.
  • If your bed was properly flooded at the periods of coldest temperatures.
  • If you have access to good quality water supplies.

Late Water is Not Advised:

  • If you held late water in the past two years.
  • If your bog produced a heavy crop in 2020.
  • If the bed was sanded the previous year.
  • If the bog is stressed and shows signs of winter injury.
  • If your bog is severely out of grade.

 

Peter Jeranyama and Leela Uppala

2020 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

Leela Uppala and Peter Jeranyama

The final keeping quality forecast is GOOD.

We calculated 7 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2020 Massachusetts cranberry crop. This score is based on (1) the total of sunshine hours for February for the present year is less than the 50-year average for that month (143 hr), 1 point. (2) the total of sunshine hours for March for the present year is more than the 50-year average for that month (179 hr), 2 points. (3) the average temperature for April for the present year at Middleboro is below the April threshold of 44°F, 2 points. (4) the total precipitation for April for the present year is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro (6.70 inches), 1 point.  (5) the total precipitation for May for the present year is less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro (3.20 inches), 1 point.

Implications

You may be able to reduce the number of fruit rot fungicide applications if your answer is yes to at least one of the following criteria. If a particular cranberry bed:

  • Held late water in spring 2020.
  • is planted with resistant varieties.
  • Had a low fruit rot incidence in 2019.

Even if you answered YES to one of the above three criteria, you should not reduce the number of fruit rot fungicide applications:

  • For newly planted beds.
  • Beds with excess vine growth that prevents rapid drying.

Please note:

  • Do not use a fungicide at less than the registered label rate.
  • Proper timing and uniform coverage of fungicides are critical for effective fruit rot management.  
  • Above normal sunshine hours during June, July and August (especially July) have been associated with good or better quality than predicted. Less than normal sunshine hours during these three months may result in keeping quality not as good as predicted.  

 

2020 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The forecast is for FAIR preliminary keeping quality.

As of April 1, there are 3 points out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2020 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The 3 points were awarded for sunshine hours in February which was less than 143 hours (1 point) and favorable sunshine hours in March which were greater than 179 hours (2 points). The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May. Based on the preliminary forecast, fruit rot fungicide applications and the rate of fungicides applied should not be reduced. As for the holding of late water, there are no definitive indicators pro or con. Growers should determine whether to hold late water based on bed conditions. Please check the table below and the section on late water in the Chart Book for advice regarding the implementation of this cultural practice. If you have any questions, please contact Leela Uppala: 334-728-1025 or suppala@umass.edu. 

Late Water is Advised:

  • Once in three years for 4 weeks from Mid-April to Mid-May.
  • If your bog looks healthy and not showing signs of stress.
  • If your bed was properly flooded at the periods of coldest temperatures.
  • If the scale and/or fruit rot incidences were high in 2019.
  • If you have access to good quality water supplies.

Late Water is Not Advised:

  • If you held late water in the past two years.
  • If your bog produced a heavy crop in 2019.
  • If the bed was sanded the previous year.
  • If the bog is stressed and shows signs of winter injury.
  • If your bog is severely out of grade.

 

 Peter Jeranyama and Leela Uppala

2019 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

Final Keeping Quality Forecast

The final forecast is GOOD keeping quality.

We calculated 7 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2019 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The final forecast is GOOD for keeping quality.

The final keeping quality score of 7 was based on (i) the previous total year sunshine hours which were less than 2,274 hours (4 points), (ii) favorable sunshine hours for March which were more than the 50-year average for that month (2 points) and (iii) the total precipitation for April which was less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro precipitation of 6.70 inches (1 point). However, the average temperature for April and May for Middleboro were both above the required values to gain additional points.  

This is a year that you should probably be able to reduce the number of fungicide applications. If you have a bed that had late water held this spring, you can reduce your fungicide inputs in that situation as well.

Peter Jeranyama, Plant Physiology

2019 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The preliminary forecast is for VERY GOOD keeping quality.
 

As of April 1, there are 6 points out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2019 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The 6 points were based on the previous total year sunshine hours which were less than 2,274 hours (4 points). In our case the previous total year sunshine hours were 2,154 hr. In addition, an extra 2 points were awarded for favorable sunshine hours for March which were more than the 50-year average for that month. Consequently, the preliminary forecast is for VERY GOOD keeping quality.
 

The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May, otherwise it could be downgraded to as low as FAIR. Unless the final keeping quality forecast worsens or you have areas with a history of high fruit rot disease pressure, the preliminary forecast suggests that fewer fungicide applications and/or using less than the maximum recommended fungicide application rate may be sufficient for proper fruit rot management. However, keep in mind that all chemical applications should be carried out according to product label instructions and that due to fungicide resistance concerns you should never use less than the lowest recommended fungicide rate.

As for holding late water this spring, the preliminary forecast offers no compelling reason to use late water to enhance fruit quality at harvest. Since the final forecast could be as low as FAIR (if no further points are gained in April and May), late water may still make sense for beds with high fruit rot history.  Before considering this practice, assess if there was any major winter injury or if plants display any other stress symptoms and consider carefully your reasons for using later water.
 

Peter Jeranyama, Plant Physiology

 

2018 Final Keeping Quality Forecast

The final forecast is POOR keeping quality.

We calculated 3 points out of a possible 16 to arrive at this keeping quality forecast for the 2018 Massachusetts cranberry crop. This score makes the final keeping quality poor.

The final keeping quality score of 3 was based on (i) the favorable sunshine hours for February (124 hr.) which were less than the 50-year average for that month (143 hr.), (ii) the total precipitation for April 2018 which was less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro precipitation of 6.70 inches and (iii) the total precipitation for May 2018 which was less than the average of East Wareham and Middleboro precipitation of 3.20 inches. However, the average temperature for April and May for Middleboro were both above the required values to gain additional points.  

Based on previous recommendations by Frank Caruso, this is a year that you probably should not reduce your fungicide rates and/or the number of fungicide applications. However, if you have a bed that had late water held this spring, you can reduce your fungicide inputs in that situation.

Peter Jeranyama, Plant Physiology

2018 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The preliminary keeping quality forecast is POOR.

As of April 1, there is only 1 point out of a possible 10 that favor keeping quality for the 2018 Massachusetts cranberry crop. The sole point was awarded for favorable sunshine hours for February (124 hr) which were less than the 50-year average for that month (143 hr). Consequently, the forecast is for poor keeping quality.

The final keeping quality forecast (issued after June 1) could be upgraded if we have a cool and dry April and May. Based on the present forecast, fungicide applications and the rate of fungicides applied should NOT be reduced, and close attention should be paid where fruit rot has been a major or regular concern.

According to Carolyn DeMoranville, former Station Director, a poor keeping quality forecast would be reason to hold late water this year.  However, if you see winter damage from not being under water in December and January, you should not use later water and now is the time to inspect for possible damage.  Based on the current weather, you should not have to start late water particularly early. Late water floods should be applied prior to the breaking of bud dormancy. Generally, the 30-day LW flood will be applied between April 15th and 20th. Do not apply the flood if the buds have broken dormancy.  See Chart Book for more information on late water floods.

Peter Jeranyama, Plant Physiology

2017 Preliminary Keeping Quality Forecast

The preliminary forecast is FAIR to GOOD for keeping quality.

As of April 1, there are 4 of 10 possible points that favor keeping quality for the 2017 cranberry growing season. There were two points awarded for total March sunshine hours and two additional points for average March temperature (below 34° F). The final keeping quality forecast (available after June 1) may improve if temperature and rainfall conditions during April and May are cool and dry.

This preliminary forecast suggests that you could consider reducing the number of fungicide applications in beds where fruit rot has not been a problem every year and bogs where canopy management practices that help reduce fruit rot disease pressure (e.g., sanding, pruning, proper fertilization and irrigation programs) are practiced routinely.

Holding late water can help improve fungicide efficacy and fruit quality, but with last year’s drought conditions, late water should only be considered for beds or varieties with no evident plant stress symptoms such as leaf drop or yellow vine.  Late water should be in place before buds break dormancy (white bud or bud swell first stages). As of April 6, cranberry buds in the Wareham area appear to be dormant.

Follow me on Twitter @esaalau for weekly updates and pictures on bud dormancy starting next week, or call me (Extension 18) with any questions about fungicide programs for this year.  Erika Saalau Rojas (Extension Plant Pathologist)

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