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Wisconsin’s pumpkin crop was weakened this year by drought in the northeast and floods in the south, said Dan Bowles, the president of the Central Wisconsin Pumpkin Growers.
There was a lot of heat when the crops would have been pollinated, and conditions were drier than preferred during the gourds’ prime growing season, he said. That caused smaller varieties to be wiped out and left pumpkins that aren’t as brightly colored.
“To top everything else off, those that were OK, later in the season they had all that massive rain in the early part of August,” Bowles said. “Overall conditions, I don’t think this was a good year for the jack o’ lantern pumpkin growers.”
Some growers insist their selection is still good.
“We have enough pumpkins, but we get lots of business so when we get down to the end of the month, there’s not too many left,” said George “Sandy” Cuff, who operates the 20-acre Cuff Pumpkin Farm in the town of Hortonia.
Cuff invested plenty of money in irrigation so his crops got enough water, but the hot, dry conditions caused part of his crop to ripen early than usual, he said.
Other local growers say their pumpkin sales are as brisk as ever, even though Halloween is still 3½ weeks away.
“We’re swamped,” said Gary Schabo of Schabo’s Hillside Farm in Mackville. “There’s still a good selection. I sell more pumpkins in September than I do in October, believe it or not.”
Cuff hopes for a better season next year.
“We love what we’re doing, but it does get difficult,” he said. “It’s not automatic. It used to be you could put pumpkin seeds on the ground and look around. Now when we have so many customers, it’s an actual business. We have to make sure we have enough pumpkins for everyone who wants to come out.”
