Upper Cumberland pumpkin producers reporting a significantly diminished harvest this year as inconsistent weather patterns and disease outbreaks have impacted local crops.
BGB Farms owner-operator Angie Glascock said the current growing season has been defined by extreme shifts between excessive moisture and intense heat.
“This year’s pumpkin crop is going to be light, soft, I guess is a good word for it,” Glascock said. “It was really wet when it should have been dry, and then it was really dry when they needed a little rain. So and it’s just so hot at this point that they’re early maturing, so I, it’s just not a good year for pumpkins.”
Glascock said the specific timing of rainfall in May and August created an ideal environment for fungus to spread among cucurbit crops. While the plants initially bloomed and appeared healthy, the moisture levels triggered a disease storm that impacted both pumpkins and watermelons.
“They set well, they bloomed, everything looked good, and then it just rained that couple weeks, that couple weeks and that first week in August, and then the disease took over,” Glascock said.
The impact on yield has been severe compared to the successful harvest recorded last year. Glascock said her personal harvest may only reach one-tenth of its typical volume, while other regional producers are reporting yields at less than a third of their normal output.
“I’ve talked to some other local producers as well, and they’ve not gotten as much. We’re at less than a third of what we normally would get,” Glascock said.
Consumers should expect to see the effects of the shortage when shopping at local markets this fall. Glascock said the scarcity of larger pumpkins will likely drive prices higher than those seen during the previous season.
“So I would say prices will be up a little bit over last year, because last year was a really good harvest year,” Glascock said. “And they’re going to be probably a little smaller. So the bigger pumpkins are going to be more expensive because there’s not going to be as many of them, and the smaller pumpkins are going to be probably, more plentiful.”