Local cranberry growers say this year's unseasonably mild winter and frost-laden spring made for an unusual growing season, but so long as the weather cooperates, the harvest should be a good one.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts a Massachusetts cranberry harvest of approximately 2.10 million barrels, a forecast that is down 9% from last year's record-breaking crop, but still has the chance to tie the third-largest crop on record, Gary Keough of the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service told cranberry industry professionals during the 125th annual meeting of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association, held at East Over Farm in Rochester on Tuesday.

Cranberry growth began early, due to spring's early arrival, but frost in April had growers running their sprinkler systems to avoid frost damage, Keough said.

"I was concerned about it," Wareham resident Chet Halunen said of the mild winter temperatures. Halunen operates bogs in Sandwich and Plymouth. "I called it 'the winter that never was.'"

Halunen said there was a record 35 springtime nights of frost, which ended after the traditional growing season started in the beginning of May.

The first springtime frost Halunen experienced was on March 26, "which is just unheard of," he said.

"The most important thing is to protect your bog from frost," Halunen noted. "It worked itself out, but [the frost] was just relentless."

Then, in July, cranberry vines experienced stress from the heat, due to high temperatures and low precipitation, Keough explained.

Local growers said the dry weather wasn't as big an issue as the frost.

"We've had rain when we should have it," noted Mike Baptiste of Wareham-based Baptiste Brothers.

Baptiste, whose family has owned bogs in West Wareham for three generations, said he didn't have to use artificial irrigation at all this year, which can be pricey for cranberry growers with smaller operations.

"Mother Nature has a way of putting everything back in sequence," Baptiste said.

Halunen echoed that sentiment, noting that the end-of-July and early-August rain came at a good time, and the abundance of sunny weather helped "size up the fruit."

Though predictions are currently favorable, growers try to quell their optimism.

"We are expecting a good crop, but do not anticipate exceeding last year's record of more than 380,000 barrels," noted Linda Burke, Vice President of Marketing and Communication for A.D. Makepeace, Wareham's largest cranberry grower. "Of course, we're always reluctant to make predictions before the harvest begins."

That statement holds true for owners of smaller operations, too.

"It really looks good," Halunen said, "but don't count your chickens before they hatch."

And hey, the uncertainty of the harvest isn't exactly a new thing for growers to deal with.

"That's my livelihood, but I wouldn't change it for the world," Halunen said. "I love my job."