According to the B.C. Cranberry Growers’ Association, the 2016 harvest, which is underway now across the Lower Mainland, including Richmond, could be the biggest ever. Association chair Grant Keefer told CBC Radio One this week he expects B.C. will break the “million-barrel mark,” meaning 100 million pounds of fruit will be harvested. “It is just rolling along right now,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot. We’re having a good crop, I think. Imagine 2,500 tractor trailer trucks lined up … It’s a lot of cranberries.” Last year’s crop came in at around 94 million pounds. Keefer says this year was better than normal for cranberries because of a good combination of weather conditions: the growing season started warm, the summer was mild and rain came at “timely” intervals. Keefer says while some of the cranberries are being sold fresh, most of the harvest will be sold around Christmas time. According to the association’s manager, Mike Wallis, Richmond accounts for 40 per cent of the cranberry growing acreage in B.C. The harvest started in mid-September and is expected to run into early November.
