TUE AM News: WI remains No. 1 state for cranberries with 4.8M barrels in 2025; Evers calling for ‘critical action’ on UI system federal funding

May 5, 2026

— Wisconsin remains the No. 1 state for cranberries with 4.8 million barrels produced in 2025, though that’s below forecasted levels and the prior year’s “near-record” harvest of more than 6 million barrels.

The Wisconsin State Cranberries Association yesterday announced the harvest total for last year based on the Wisconsin Cranberry Board’s annual assessment, which included more than 250 growers across 19 counties and 21,000 acres of land.

The state’s total made up more than 60% of the national cranberry crop for 2025, which reached 7.46 million barrels, USDA figures show. Cranberries are Wisconsin’s largest fruit crop, with a $1 billion annual impact and supporting more than 4,000 jobs in the state, according to the association. Wisconsin also provides a third of all U.S. cranberry exports.

In August of last year, cranberry growers in the state had forecasted harvesting 5.3 million barrels in 2025, the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistic Services reported.

Jenna Van Wychen, board president for the WSCGA, said the 2025 season “required a lot of attention and flexibility” from growers.

“Weather always plays a role, and last year’s conditions presented challenges,” she said. “After a banner crop, some adjustment is also expected, but we’re encouraged by the quality of the fruit and how growers managed through the season.”

Last year’s harvest was roughly in line with other recent annual totals, as 5.01 million barrels were harvested in the state in 2023 and 4.8 million were harvested in 2022, an earlier NASS report shows.

Central and northern Wisconsin counties dominate the state’s cranberry production, as Wood County produced more than 1.38 million barrels last year or nearly a third of the state’s total for the year. That was followed by Monroe County with about 990,000 barrels, Jackson County with 766,000 barrels and Juneau County with 630,000 barrels.

Other U.S. states with major cranberry industries include Massachusetts with 1.9 million barrels in 2025, Oregon with 530,000 barrels and New Jersey with 449,000 barrels.

— Gov. Tony Evers is urging the new U.S. Department of Labor secretary to “take the critical action your predecessor would not” and restore $29 million in federal funding to continue modernizing the state’s unemployment insurance system.

Evers has pushed the Trump administration to restore the grant funding, which the U.S. DOL eliminated last year, saying it “does not effectuate agency priorities.”

“The loss of federal funding to complete this modernization project threatens to hinder Wisconsin’s efforts to combat fraud, serve the public, and reduce burdens to businesses,” Evers wrote in a Thursday letter to Acting Secretary Keith Sonderling. “Despite the setback the funding rescission has created, I remain committed to improving our system with whatever resources are available.”

Sonderling is overseeing the department following former Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s departure. Chavez-DeRemer stepped down last month amid allegations she abused her power, had a relationship with a subordinate and drank on the job.

The department did not immediately return a request for comment on Evers’ latest plea.

Wisconsin began an overhaul of its 1970s-era UI system in the wake of high unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Workforce Development then faced large backlogs, processing nearly 8.8 million claims over the first nine months of 2020, according to Evers’ office.

Evers in the letter to Sonderling said the state continues to make progress on updating the system, but the missing federal funding has hampered key parts of that work.

The $29 million Evers is seeking includes:

$11.25 million to create an online and mobile employer portal, including for communications to reduce improper payments and fraud;
$6.3 million to “prevent and detect fraud, ensure program integrity, and improve cybersecurity and overpayment collections”;
$6.8 million to modernize written communication with UI customers; and
Nearly $4.5 million to “implement identity authentication and identity proofing tools, modernize the application process, enhance automation for case scheduling, and centrally document all interactions on a given claim.”

See the release.

— The state Department of Justice is touting a $700 million multi-state settlement with Google, with most settlement funds going directly to consumers affected by its alleged app store monopoly.

A federal court has said it will approve the settlement, which comes after Wisconsin in 2021 joined 52 other attorneys general in suing the tech giant, the state DOJ announced yesterday. The lawsuit alleged Google “illegally dominated” Android app distribution, charging consumers up to 30% per transaction.

Most of the settlement funds will go to people who made purchases on Google Play between August 2016 and September 2023, the release shows.

In addition to the payout, app developers will be allowed to use alternate payment systems, tell customers about lower prices outside of Google’s billing system and list their apps on competing stores without facing retribution for at least five years, DOJ says.

In a statement on the settlement, AG Josh Kaul said the state DOJ is “committed to protecting consumers’ access to a fair and competitive marketplace.”

See the release.

— Dem gubernatorial candidate Missy Hughes has announced a plan to benefit small businesses that includes suing the Trump administration to return tariff revenue “stolen from Wisconsin.”

As part of that, the former WEDC CEO and secretary said she would authorize the attorney general to sue the federal government to recover tariffs charged to businesses and “use every lever at her disposal to stop future tariffs from taking hold.” Yesterday’s announcement didn’t specify what those steps could include.

Hughes announced a three-part plan as part of small business week. It includes direct support to small businesses by expanding the Main Street Bounce Back program that was created to give grants of $10,000 each to businesses and nonprofits that moved into empty storefronts.

She also pledged to direct her administration to modernize regulations and bureaucratic procedures and to create a public health insurance option. Creating a public option was also part of the healthcare plan she announced last month.

See the release.

— GOP legislative leaders are recommending seven study committees to tackle cryptocurrency, AI in healthcare and other topics.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate President Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, announced Friday they were recommending the committees to the Joint Legislative Council they co-chair for final approval. The study committees are on:

the District Attorney Funding Formula
Laws to Restore Floodplains
Cryptocurrency
the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care
the Definition of “Veteran”
Cemeteries
on State-Tribal Relations

— UW-Stevens Point is creating its own Doctor of Audiology program, splitting from an existing degree consortium with UW-Madison.

The university yesterday announced it will establish an independent three-year doctoral program that will start enrolling students in summer 2028.

This comes after UW-Stevens Point and UW-Madison have jointly offered a Doctor of Audiology degree for two decades, under a program that will formally end in 2030.

Under the new Au.D. program, which was approved by the UW Board of Regents at its April meeting, UW-Stevens Point will continue to teach currently enrolled consortium students until they finish their degrees.

All students in the accelerated three-year program will be required to finish at least 1,820 hours of supervised practical experience at hospitals, schools and other care locations. The release highlights the school’s Speech, Language and Hearing clinic, which gives students the chance to work directly with patients.

“Students begin working with patients on campus in their first year and progress to off-campus placements and a full-time externship, ensuring they are fully prepared for professional practice,” said Julia Fischer, who leads the university’s School of Health Sciences and Wellness.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

— WEDC is holding its Small Business Academy this week, with online and in-person components.

The free statewide program includes workshops covering financing, legal, information technology and other topics. Virtual sessions will be held today through Thursday, and in-person sessions will be held Friday in cities throughout the state.

Registration is required and can be done online.

See more at Madison Startups.

— The Great Lakes Fusion Energy Summit is happening today in Madison, featuring remarks by experts in the fusion industry and various universities.

Organizers for the event note fusion energy is expected to be operational within the next decade, adding “now is the time to begin exploring this potentially $10 trillion industry.”

The summit is being held at the Discovery Building in Madison starting at 9 a.m. It will be followed by a 5 p.m. mixer at Findorff’s Madison headquarters, which requires separate registration.

See event details.

UW-Madison plans pay raises for 548 faculty in high-demand fields

Gas prices in Wisconsin up to average of $4.37 per gallon

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