Southeastern Mass: Vision 2020 Task Force

The Vision 2020 Task Force proposes this cranberry buyout program ("Redfields Initiative") to preserve valuable open space and assist willing cranberry growers to exit the industry.

IMPACT
Massachusetts maintains approximately 61,000 acres of bog land and support acreage. Actual bog acreage represents approximately 14,800 acres, or 24% of the total cranberry lands. Using a range of $5,000 to $15,000 per acre of combined bog and upland, an appropriation of $10 million for a buyout program could remove an estimated 667 to 2000 acres, or between 4.5% and 13.5% of total acreage in Massachusetts. Assuming a "Dutch Auction" method for buying the land, whereby land owners submit the lowest acceptable price for their land as a "bid" and the bids are accepted in ascending order of value until the funding is exhausted, the poorest producing (lowest value) bogs are likely to be removed from the market first and the most marginal growers can voluntarily exit the industry. Therefore, the impact on production will presumably be lower than the impact on the acreage, and the greatest benefit will be the preservation of open space.

SUGGESTED PROCESS
The Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act (PL 94-265; 1996) - Section 312 is the suggested model for the cranberry buyback program. The law authorizes the Secretary to pay "the owner (of a fishing vessel)….. subjected to title restrictions that permanently prohibit and effectively prevent its use (in fishing), and the owner relinquishes any claim (associated with the vessel and permit) that could qualify such owner for any present or future limited access system permit (in the fishery) for which the program is established." The law goes on to state that "Participation in the program shall be voluntary, but the Secretary shall ensure compliance by all who do participate."

It is suggested that this model be followed, with the legislation authorizing the Secretary of Agriculture to set up the buyback program without being overly prescriptive about the details. Like the dairy herd buyback program, cranberry growers would have to sign a contract restricting their ability to develop more bogs to replace those that were purchased. In addition, a deed restriction would be placed on the purchased bogs to keep them out of further production.

A maximum limit on the total acreage that any single grower can offer for buyback should be considered. One hundred acres is suggested.

USE OF PURCHASED LAND
Unlike Wisconsin, or New Jersey, the Massachusetts cranberry industry is located in one of the fastest growing regions in the northeast. The preservation of hundreds of acres of open space in this region may be the greatest benefit of this program. For example, the Town of Carver is the top cranberry growing town in the Commonwealth, and also was the fastest growing town in the SRPEDD region in the last twenty years, with a growth rate of 60%. Middleborough, Rochester and Plymouth are also rapidly growing towns with significant cranberry acreage.

The legislation should include a mechanism for USDA to turn the purchased land over to the Commonwealth, the town, or to a non-profit land trust.