Ocean Spray, the farmer-owned cooperative that is the dominant force in the U.S. cranberry industry, directed its growers to vote to end a federal marketing order and the Cranberry Marketing Committee, farmers said.

The June vote to kill the order and committee wasn’t close.

“Ocean Spray, which handles about 70% of the cranberries in the U.S., decided it wasn’t working for them anymore,” said Bob Donaldson, chairman of the Oregon Cranberry Growers Association and owner of Donaldson Farms in Langlois, Ore.

The committee conducted research and promoted the industry and was funded by a 28-cent-per-barrel assessment.

Donaldson, who has a split contract, half with Ocean Spray, said he voted “no.”

“If the co-op thinks they can do a better job with that money, I have to believe them and vote that way. It was a tough decision,” he added.

Ocean Spray released a brief statement on Friday. “We believe the outcome is a positive one for the cranberry industry and will enable improved opportunities to market and champion our superfruit around the globe,” wrote Kate Leonard, Ocean Spray spokeswoman, in an email.

Only 26.5% of cranberry farmers, representing 20.1% of production volume, supported the marketing order in the referendum, according to USDA, which supervises it.

In either category, a 50% vote would have allowed the order and committee to survive for another four years.

Nothing is final, though. Following a comment period, the USDA secretary, Tom Vilsack, will make a determination, said Karen Cahill, Cranberry Marketing Committee marketing director.

The marketing order, established in 1962, also provides for volume control in which processors must decrease the volume of products they sell, farmers must decrease the amount of berries they deliver, or both.

Gale Turner of Turner Cranberries in Bandon, Ore., who grows for Ocean Spray and independently, said he repeatedly voted against the order and committee. Lately, that’s been partly because of volume controls in 2017 and 2018. He said Canadian growers, including some Ocean Spray members, didn’t have limits.

Turner added that he thought large marketing campaigns didn’t produce results.

“I felt like it did not benefit the grower,” he said.

Harry Kaiser, a Cornell University economics professor and expert in agricultural marketing and policy, said it’s often difficult for farmers to see the advantages of industry marketing.

“The only way they could see the benefits of the program is if they don’t have the program,” he said.

Kaiser added that the Cranberry Marketing Committee’s promotions provided a high rate of return. He evaluated those efforts for the organization.

The committee spent $1.77 million from 2015 to 2019. “I found that every dollar they put into it returned $7.70,” Kaiser said.

He also studied data on Ocean Spray advertising, which also significantly increased demand — though Kaiser acknowledged he didn’t calculate an exact rate of return.

“The marketing budget for Ocean Spray is way bigger,” Kaiser said.

About 700 farm families in the United States, Canada and Chile are part of the Ocean Spray cooperative.

ADDING VALUE: Cranberry farmers find new strategies to boost incomes

Ocean Spray lawsuit settled

Thanksgiving dinner cost up 20% from last year

Cranberry harvest expected to surpass last year’s

Family cranberry dispute results in $2.5 million jury verdict