Chatsworth, NJ — At 78, Stephen Lee III faces an uncertain future.
Six generations of his family have farmed 300 acres of cranberry bogs in South Jersey.
“In agriculture, you don’t know what’s next,” Lee said.
Over the past four months, it has only rained about two inches at Lee Brothers Cranberry Farm – about a foot less than normal. Earlier this month, New Jersey declared a drought warning amid dry conditions that have contributed to the spread of several forest fires in the state.
“The National Weather Service says this extreme drought in this part of South Jersey has been going on for 150 years,” Lee said.
And before temperatures drop into the single digits, the cranberry bogs will need to be flooded to prevent the delicate buds from drying out.
Normally, waterways feed into the Lees Reservoir. But now it is a surreal landscape, cracked and bone dry.
“It’s shocking,” said Lee’s daughter Jennifer. “And all you can do is stare out and look at it.”
Jennifer says they used a reserve well to pump water for their recent harvest. But even that pit is six meters lower than normal.
“We’re lucky,” Jennifer explained. “There are growers who don’t have a well and…they haven’t been successful this year.”
Still, pumping the marshes with spring water this season will cost nearly $30,000 in fuel.
And near the farm, a wildfire that started in July is still smoldering, fueled by the drought. It’s a threat that’s keeping Lee away from a Thanksgiving tradition of gathering with family in Maine.
“I’m going to stay here and smell smoke and try to figure out if the cranberries are protected,” Lee said.
It is the price for guarding next year’s harvest and his family’s legacy.
Elaine Quijano
