Each fall, hundreds of acres of cranberries are harvested in Oregon. Many of the bogs are visible along Highway 101 and make for an interesting roadside stop. Loosened cranberries float to the surface. After the harvester finishes, an elevator is set into place, and the cranberries are boomed in around it. The elevator used on this farm can load 1,000 pounds of cranberries in under 3 minutes.
Some farmers use an additional trailer, which can double the number of totes per load.
The majority of the area cranberries are grown for Ocean Spray, which has a receiving plant in Bandon. McKenzie Cranberries, an Independent Grower, allowed us to tour and photograph their new cleaning plant. Initially, cranberries are dumped in a huge concrete bunker outside the plant. Water sprayers are used to move the cranberries toward an elevator that moves them into the building's cleaning machinery. Clean berries are double checked before they move up a final elevator and spill into a giant funnel.