WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis.—  Wisconsin cranberry farmers regained some optimism in 2021, as the industry trends in a "positive direction."

Jamie Biegel is a fourth-generation cranberry farmer in Wood County. Her family has run Dempze Cranberry for more than 100 years. She said despite the ups and downs of agriculture, one thing history has taught her is to always look at the glass half full.

“This is the thing, at the end of the day things work,” she said.

She said it’s the eternal optimism that makes growing cranberries sweet no matter how tart the fruit are.

Projections released by the U.S. Cranberry Marketing Committee said the Badger State will once again lead the nation as the top producer of cranberries. They estimate growers will harvest 4.7 million barrels of cranberries in 2021, up from 2020.

Rocky Biegel said growers had been dealing with a surplus of the fruit for years which drove prices down. That surplus is no more, and prices continue to rebound as a result.

“Prices for the farmer at the farm level are really coming up to where we’re at a break-even or starting to make a little bit of money,” he said.

Tom Lochner is with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association said the pandemic helped bring prices up since more people were home and bought more cranberries. He said growers are aware they haven’t fully rebounded to where prices were a decade ago.

“I think generally across the state growers are cautiously optimistic and they’re feeling I think a little bit better about things,” he said.

The folks at Dempze Cranberry said they believe in being positive and feel there’s plenty to be positive about right now.

“It’s always good to be able to survive knowing that you got enough money to make it through the year,” Rocky Biegel said.