MADISON, Wis. — Today, a new report was released detailing the negative impacts the GOP’s tariff taxes could have on Wisconsin’s cranberry industry. The report explains that, due to Trump’s trade war with China, cranberry growers are uncertain about what their international markets will look like during the upcoming harvest season. This follows remarks from WI-03 Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who acknowledged that the tariffs were making harvesters nervous and that the GOP was “slogging” through them despite the devastation they are causing Wisconsin farmers.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s successful cranberry industry won’t be immune from Trump’s tariffs, growers say
By: Anna Kleiber | 10/8/25
Key details below:
- Wisconsin is projected to harvest 5.3 million barrels of cranberries in 2025, marking 31 consecutive years of being the nation’s top cranberry producer, but despite the industry seeing decades of economic success, growers will likely see price drops as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
- The U.S. produces roughly two-thirds of the world’s cranberries, and over 60% of the nation’s supply comes from Wisconsin. Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers of Wisconsin Executive Director Grant Holley said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that roughly one-third of the nation’s cranberry crop is sold overseas.
- “The cranberry industry has worked in recent years to expand international markets and grow global demand for U.S. cranberries,” Holley said. “Global trade certainly plays a role for our growers.”
- In the 2024 fiscal year, the U.S. exported $351 million of cranberries and related products, performing 2% higher than the five year average from fiscal years 2019 through 2023, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service report.
- Top markets for U.S. cranberries include the European Union, Mexico, Canada and China. With China and the U.S. at odds over Trump’s steep tariffs, cranberry growers are uncertain what their international market will look like. In 2024, China was the fourth largest individual market for U.S. cranberries, importing $41 million cranberries — roughly 12% of U.S. exports of the fruit, according to U.S. Census Bureau trade data.
- “Like many others, growers are feeling economic pressures from a variety of directions right now,” Holley said. “Tariffs are one factor in that mix and are contributing to the smaller prices growers are anticipating for their crop this year.”
- The low prices paired with the rising cost of producing larger hybrid varieties and the effects of climate change bringing unpredictable weather have not helped the industry.
- Wisconsin’s cranberry industry generates nearly $1 billion annually and supports over 4,000 jobs in the state, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension. While 2025’s production of the fruit saw a slight decrease from the 6.01 million barrels harvested in 2024, the forecasted 5.3 million barrels will make up roughly 65% of the total U.S. supply.
- This year, USDA estimated total cranberry production at 8.13 million barrels, down 9% from 2024.
- Wisconsin’s rich history of cranberry-growing stretches back centuries
- Cranberries have played an important historical and cultural role in Wisconsin. Native to the marshlands of central Wisconsin, Native Americans have harvested cranberries for centuries.
- “Because they are native, cranberries were grown here before Wisconsin even became a state,” Holly said.
- In 1849, local Ho-Chunk Indians carried on a large trade of the fruit with early settlers in Juneau County. Commerical [sic] production of cranberries began near Berlin in Green Lake County in the early 1850s, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- Around 1950, cranberry harvesting began to be mechanized, marking a shift toward mass production of the fruit.
- “For generations, growers have lived and worked on this land, combining their expertise with innovation through science and research to grow the crop in the most sustainable and efficient way possible,” Holley said.
- In the last 15 years, an increase in consumer demand for cranberry products had led growers in the state to renovate marshes; geneticists to develop new varieties; and an increase in investors backing the industry.
- Today, Wisconsin is home to more than 250 cranberry farms, located in 20 of the state’s central and northern counties, where sandy soils and wetlands make the region ideal for cranberry cultivation. The state’s soils and climate are “naturally suited for cranberries to thrive,” Holley said, noting that cranberries grow best in sandy, acidic soils, with the state’s cold winter and war [sic] summers providing the seasonal cycle they need.
- Cranberries are harvested annually in the fall, primarily from mid-September through November, with the peak of the harvest occurring in October. The harvest is a weather-dependent process and involves flooding the bogs to dislodge the floated cranberries, which are then corralled and collected.
