WAREHAM, Mass. (AP) - Massachusetts is expecting a bumper
cranberry crop this fall.

Federal agricultural officials say the crop could increase as
much as 25 percent this year and yield up to 1.9 million barrels,
the best year in the state since 1999.

Gary Keough, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
statistical service New England field office, says the wet weather
in July and August offset concerns about a hot June.

He says there is also a cyclical nature to the cranberry
harvest, and 2007 was a down year.

The forecast was presented Tuesday at the Cape Cod Cranberry
Growers' Association's annual meeting in Wareham and was based on
survey responses by more than 300 Bay State growers.

Cranberry grower Peter Beaton says a good crop is "just what
the industry needed."