Missile systems defense to cranberry harvesting. Sounds like a natural career progression, wouldn’t you say?

Though many of today’s cranberry growers are part of a long-standing family tradition, plenty others, including Jeff Kapell, are first-generation farmers. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jeff got his start in engineering with Boeing Vertol and then Raytheon Missile Systems before teaching high school physics in Weston, Mass. So how did he get into the cranberry business?

“I was just really attracted to the kind of life that cranberries implied,” said Jeff. “I wanted to be outdoors and I didn’t want an 8-to-5. I liked the idea of building my own business and having the personal responsibility of a cranberry bog. I wanted to grow something.”

That was in 1975, and after purchasing 27 acres of bogs in 1979, Jeff joined the Ocean Spray cooperative and has been a member ever since. Forty-four acres and four decades later (including twelve years on the Ocean Spray Board), Jeff has seen many changes in the cranberry industry.

“Technology has really transformed the way we farm cranberries. Back in the seventies, most folks were still dry harvesting. Using water to harvest wasn’t fully adopted until the late seventies and early eighties,” explains Jeff. “Wet harvesting made a huge difference in what we do, how we do it, and the kind of yields that we get.”

Much like the rest of us, cranberry growers have become increasingly attached to their personal devices. “As long as you have an internet connection, you can control your irrigation pumps with your smartphone or desktop computer and monitor what’s going on in the bogs.”

These advancements have become particularly helpful in the aftermath of Massachusetts’ record-setting winters. In previous years, monitoring for frost required a watchful eye throughout the night. “Internet connected systems have really been a useful tool — you don’t have to be parked in your pickup truck all night waiting for the temperature to go down,” Jeff explains. He does, however, admit to continuing to make late night runs outside to ensure everything is working properly. “There’s just no shortcut for that,” he says.

But Jeff has embraced the benefits of technology, including recently purchased tensiometers, devices used to measure moisture in soil. He explains that the device will help him decide how often and how much he should be irrigating. “After a rainstorm, I will have reliable data to help me decide how long I should wait to water.”

The cranberries on Jeff’s farm were originally planted in 1905 and have been in continuous production ever since. But with new techniques, stronger plant varieties and innovative sprinkler and drainage systems, it makes sense to Jeff to update his bog with a few renovations. “These aren’t short term changes,” Jeff notes. “You have to strip off the existing growth, laser-level the bog, create a new irrigation and drainage layout, and finish with screened sand. You’re looking at a minimum of 8-10 years’ investment before the project’s cumulative cash flow turns positive.”

Jeff believes that maintaining an efficient, sustainable bog operation requires a long-term perspective. The investments he makes today ensure that his farm—and the birds and wildlife that call the bogs home—will endure another hundred years.

“I have here on the property a great blue heron,” says Jeff. “For years he’s shown up on the very first day that I start the harvest flood. And he’ll stand there patiently as I flood the piece because it uncovers all sorts of field mice and voles for him. He’ll just follow me from piece to piece. He’s like our mascot. It’s fun to watch.”