Fawn Gottschalk, 46, grew up on her family’s cranberry farm, Gottschalk Cranberry, a few miles west of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., in Wood County in the center of the state. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, she joined her parents, Guy and Kathy Gottschalk, on the family farm in 2002.

“I didn’t always know I would come back to the farm,” Fawn says. “I thought I might, but finally decided that’s what I wanted to do in college. My grandfather Robert Gottschalk bought a small marsh here in 1940. My grandmother grew up on a cranberry farm next door.”

Multigenerational family farm

Over the years, Fawn’s grandfather expanded Gottschalk Cranberry to nearly the size it is today.

“My dad and mom expanded the farm a little more,” Fawn says. “We have kept the farm the same size for close to 40 years.”

Today, the Gottschalks own 232 acres of cranberry vines growing in 65 beds and 1,500 acres of support land, Fawn says.

The farm is now run by Fawn and her brother Andy, 44, plus five full-time year-round employees.

“We bring on five to six seasonal full-time employees from spring through harvest,” she adds.

After working off the farm, Andy joined Fawn and their parents on the farm six years ago. Andy is in charge of the farm’s operation while Fawn handles the business aspects. Both Fawn and Andy and their families live on the farm.

After earning an associate’s degree in agricultural business management from Southwest Technical College in Fennimore, Wis., Fawn’s oldest son, River, 22, began working full time on the farm last year.

“This is River’s second harvest,” Fawn says. Her younger son, Gavyn, 18, is a freshman at UW-Oshkosh.

Andy and his wife, Jennifer, have two children — Jimmy, 17, and Jillian, 15.

FAMILY OPERATION: Andy Gottschalk (left) and his sister, Fawn, with her son River (right), are the third and fourth generations of their family to grow cranberries in Wood County near Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (Fran O’Leary)

Growing cranberries

A perennial plant, cranberries grow on low-running vines in sandy marshes. Some marshes in the state have productive plants that date back more than 100 years.

The Gottschalks grow six different types of cranberries. The varieties are Stevens, Ben Lear and Searles. Their hybrids are HyRed, Sundance and Big Red.

“All three hybrids were developed at UW-Madison,” Fawn explains. “Our oldest varieties were planted in the ’50s and ’60s. They are still productive, but they don’t yield as well as the new hybrids.”

Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. In Wisconsin, cranberry marshes are flooded with water to aid in harvesting. Because the tart, tiny berries contain pockets of air, when the marsh is flooded, the berries float to the surface to be picked up by harvesting equipment.

“We started harvesting cranberries in early September,” Fawn says. The Gottschalks finished the harvest on Oct. 31.

Fawn explains that after the cranberry beds are flooded, the cranberries are mechanically raked from the vines and then corralled into the corner of a bed. Cranberries are vacuumed up a pipe, rinsed and then deposited into waiting trucks.

A good year

“We’re members of the Ocean Spray Cooperative. All of our fruit goes to Ocean Spray to be processed into sweetened dried cranberries, juice and sauce,” Fawn says.

While the final inventory of the state’s 2024 crop won’t be known until mid-December, it’s potentially a record year for Wisconsin cranberry growers. Fawn notes their farm had a record crop in 2024.

“A lot of other growers had a good year, too, but a handful had hail in June, which is never good for growers,” she says. “We do what we can all season, but Mother Nature has the final say.”

After harvest, the equipment is put away for the season, and they comb the vines and remove the loosened ones, Fawn explains. “In December and January, they flood the beds to make several layers of ice to insulate the cranberry plants. The ice melts off in March and April, and the plants break dormancy in April.

“They start setting flower buds in May, and blossom in June and July. They set berries in July and August. The berries fill out in August, and we start harvesting again next September.”

It’s too early to tell if any more of Fawn’s or Andy’s children will decide to join them on the farm, but Fawn says she wouldn’t be surprised if more decide to return to the family operation.

“It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle here,” she explains. “The beauty of the farm, the wildlife and family — I think it’s why we keep coming back.”