Integrating research and outreach education from UMass Amherst
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The southeast region of Massachusetts is composed of Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol counties. The largest city in the region is Brockton. Plymouth County funds and manages the 4-H Program in Plymouth County.
This year, the work at UMass Cranberry Station got a huge boost in the form of $5.75 million in state support to expand their labs at and modernize the facility. “It’s really momentous. It’s going to be a game-changer for us and for the industry,” said Director of the Cranberry Station Hilary Sandler. (Wareham Weekly 9/30/20)
The University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station in East Wareham will receive $5.75 million in new s
UMass Cranberry Station Director Hilary Sandler comments on recent state funds dedicated to modernize facilities that will help with the growing need for research and support for cranberry growers. (CapeCodTimes 8/27/20)
The state of Massachusetts has granted $5.75 million to the UMass Cranberry Station in Wareham in an effort to promote the cranberry industry. (CapeCod.com, 8/27/20; News Office release)
Because of the coronavirus emergency, the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment and UMass Extension have postponed public face-to-face programs through at least May 18. Online presentations are being prepared where possible. The Soils and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory as well as the Plant Diagnostics Laboratory are both also closed until at least then.
Plummeting cranberry prices and the country's ongoing trade wars have America's cranberry industry eyeing a possible new savior: solar power. Some cranberry farmers in Massachusetts are proposing to build solar panels above the bogs they harvest each fall.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has named Clem Clay as director of the UMass Extension Agriculture Program, a 110-year old educational outreach program that serves farmers, landscape and turf professionals, fruit growers, arborists, nursery owners, flower growers, service providers, public agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses.
Wednesday, March 27 was Agriculture Day on Beacon Hill. It’s a day when legislators and legislative staff get to meet with farmers and other members of the agricultural community to hear about the issues important to them. It’s also a day when everyone gets to eat a delicious meal made from locally-grown ingredients (and cooked by students from one of the state’s agricultural-vocational high schools) and sample Massachusetts’ specialty food items, including but not limited to maple candy, cranberries, cheeses, apple pie (very popular!), oysters, ice cream and more.
In late November, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy of UMass Amherst visited the UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham. He arrived to tour the station and to offer financial support to update two buildings with a new roof for the Station’s Administration Building and an upgrade to the HVAC system in the Laboratory Building. The UMass Cranberry Station is one of the preeminent research and educational outreach centers on cranberry production and was founded in 1911.
Cranberry farmers buried under a glut of the tart fruit are seeking permission for a radical way to dig themselves out: destroying millions of pounds of their crops. "Overproduction is the bane and has been for cranberries in the last few years, and consequently we’re not getting much money for our crops,” said Jack Angley, owner of Flax Pond Farms in Carver, and Chair of Board of Public Overseers [BOPO] for UMass Extension.
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