Pumpkin prices impacted by extreme heat, high diesel costs: Farmer
With the fall season in full swing, the demand for pumpkins and seasonal gourds is on the rise.
"People want pumpkins earlier than we had historically had them," Raghela Scavuzzo, the associate director of food systems development at the Illinois Farm Bureau, told ABC News.
In Illinois, the largest pumpkin producer in the U.S., Scavuzzo said pumpkin conditions haven't all been ideal.
"I have pumpkins in northern Illinois that really struggled this season and saw low crop yields and couldn't get that replant," Scavuzzo said. "But in Southern Illinois, where the rain was different, we actually are seeing an abundance in production, which is why it's balancing out overall."
Pumpkins are grown in all 50 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but farmers in parts of the country have been facing a variety of challenges, including extreme heat, drought and fuel costs.
"We actually had no rainfall for 77 days," Taylor Huffman, the co-owner of Western Belle Farm in West, Texas, told ABC News.
Huffman said Western Belle Farm's pumpkin crop was nearly wiped out by extreme heat in the South over the summer months.
"Unfortunately, we basically pumped our almost one-acre stock tank dry, trying to keep everything alive through the heat and the lack of rain," Huffman said.
To mitigate the crop loss, Huffman said they trucked in pumpkins to the farm, but the soaring cost of diesel has also had a huge impact on their expenses.
"Our diesel bill -- we feel it already, as it's almost double what we were spending last fall," said Huffman.
Despite the challenges, Scavuzzo said overall, however, pumpkin production has remained decent this year, and diesel will be a major factor in pumpkin prices, so locally grown pumpkins could help shoppers save a few dollars.
"It's going to ultimately depend on where you're purchasing your pumpkins, if you're going to see that [high cost of diesel] reflect in your costs," Scavuzzo said.
