MONROE COUNTY, Wis. — Wisconsin’s cranberry growers are hitting the marsh to harvest the fruits of their labor.

Mike Gnewikow helps run Wetherby Cranberry Company in Warrens, Wisconsin. The family has been growing cranberries for almost 120 years, he said. Gnewikow has been working the marshes for 32 years. He said this year’s crop is putting a big smile on his face.

“They look really good this year,” Gnewikow said. “They got some really nice color. The crop’s going to be really nice for us this year. Should be a fun year to watch.”

He said the harvest season brings with it a lot of work.

“This time of year what’s tough is we’re up all night and all day,” he said. “Like last night, we had frost watch and so when our alarms go off and we have to go irrigate for frost protection. Then we end up being up most of the night.”

Tom Lochner said despite the frost, harvest season is looking good for growers throughout the state. He’s the executive director of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association.

“It seems the crop here in Wisconsin has rebounded from a rather disappointing crop last year,” Lochner said. “We’re expecting an average crop, which will be about 520 million pounds of fruit for Wisconsin.”

Lochner said that’s because the weather was much better to growers than last in 2021.

“As one grower told me, it’s 85% of what happens out here is due to Mother Nature and what growers can do is manage the other 15%,” Lochner said. “If you’re willing to accept that a lot of things are out of your control, you can be successful in the business.”

Gnewikow said he’s just glad to make it through to this point with plenty to be optimistic about. He said he can’t imagine doing anything else with his time.

“It’s just an exciting thing that I’ll be doing for the rest of my life,” he said.