Coast River Business Journal
FEATURE STORY
As kids, Dan Bogh and his three siblings would help with
the production.
“Every season, we were out in the bogs, which is a family
tradition,” Dan Bogh said. “This farm became available about
five years ago, so we purchased this one. And so it’s just a
natural flow into this and this is just kind of our little hobby.”
You don’t have to be family to come help out in the bog.
Some curious people driving down Dellmoor Loop will stop
by to check out the red watery fields in the fall.
“I will say ‘no, no looky loos, you must bring your hip
boots’ and they’ll say ‘do you have a pair? I’d love to get in,’”
Trinda Bogh said with a laugh. “So we make a lot of friends
out here.”
The Boghs grow seven different varieties of cranberries
across their 25 acres and 11 bogs. Trinda Bogh said she loves
to see the development of different cranberry varieties over the
years, as the industry comes out with bigger, redder berries.
Bi-state collaboration
While the other Oregon bogs are further south in the
Bandon area, the farms in Gearhart are grouped in with the
closer cranberry farms in the Long Beach Peninsula. Once the
Boghs load the cranberries into a truck, they deliver them to
get rated, processed and cleaned at the Ocean Spray plant in
Long Beach.
“The Washington folks have been so inviting from the
very start five years ago, they just wanted to see us succeed,”
Trinda Bogh said. “If we have any questions or need a piece of
equipment or anything, all we have to do is pick up the phone
and they’re here. They’re great people to work with.”
From the Long Beach facility, the cranberries make their
way in trucks to a plant in Hillsboro, where most of them get
frozen. Because of the deep red color of the cranberries that
grow in the West Coast, the majority of Bogh Farm berries
become juice or craisins.
“We have actually been to the Ocean Spray bottling plant
on the West Coast, it’s in Henderson, Nevada, and we watched
the process of all the different juices being bottled,” Trinda
Bogh said. “It’s quite a process.”
Ocean Spray is owned by about 700 farmers, with each
farm averaging 18 acres.
Trinda and Dan Bogh at their farm in October.
Industry challenges
But the cranberry industry does not come without its
challenges. The U.S. has been experiencing a cranberry
surplus for years.
“Well, anytime, especially in the agricultural business,
when you have a surplus, your prices are going to go down,”
Dan Bogh said. “So that’s what’s happened with the farmers,
that’s what we’ve been going through.”
Trinda Bogh said over the years, cranberry prices have run
the gamut from 10 cents per barrel up to $60 per barrel.
“The market really fluctuates,” she said. “We’re no different
than fishermen or foresters, we depend on good old Mother
Nature and folks who drink cranberry juice.”
However, the surplus has led to innovation for different
ways to bring the cranberries to market.
Ocean Spray has gone beyond cranberry sauce and juice to
products like chocolate-covered craisins and even cranberry
dog food.
“That’s another good thing about Ocean Spray, too, is they
are constantly trying to find new avenues,” Dan Bogh said.
Watch the video of the cranberry harvest
at crbizjournal.com
The Bogh family loads the cranberries into a truck in October.
November 2020 • 7
