Last year was a mixed bag for growers of three of Wisconsin’s specialty crops. It was the second-best year on record for cranberry production in Wisconsin. The State Department of Ag puts final production at 3.96 million barrels in 2010. The crop got off to a good start but heavy rains in July hampered pollination while excess moisture later in the season caused some rot. A total of 18,000 acres were harvested with average yield at 220 barrels per acre. Freezing temperatures in early May took a toll on the state’s apple and cherry crops. DATCP says apple production totaled 37 million pounds in 2010, 14.9 percent less than in 2009. Tart cherry production in the Badger State dropped 48 percent to 5.7 million pounds.

Brownfield

There was no apocalyptic cause for the recent deaths of 200 cattle in Central Wisconsin. The steers succumbed in a Portage County feed lot earlier this month, and Doctor Peter Vanderloo at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab said tests have shown that it was moldy sweet potatoes used in the animals’ feed that did them in. “The mold product that grows on sweet potatoes was present in the sweet potatoes,” said Vanderloo. “All the clinical science, the death loss, the changes in the steers, are all compatible with this mold. [Read more...]