No shortage of Massachusetts pumpkins after ‘ideal growing year,’ crop experts say
It’s October, which means the annual phenomenon of pumpkin everything is in full swing, but for those who can’t imagine a fall without canned pumpkin, experts are advising consumers to stock up now.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture reported 90 percent of the pumpkins grown in the United States are raised within a 90-mile radius of Peoria, Illinois. Those yields are expected to be down by up to a third this year due to record rainfall, according to Libby, a canned pumpkin manufacturer.
Libby released that, “once we ship the remainder of the 2015 harvest, we’ll have no more Libby’s pumpkin to sell until harvest 2016,’’ according to NBC News.
Pumpkin conditions in Massachusetts, however, have generally been good for pumpkins this year.
“In a lot of ways, it was an ideal growing year,’’ said Katie Campbell-Nelson, a vegetable specialist for the UMass Extension School’s Center or Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, told Brockton’s The Enterprise.
The season has been dry, causing issues for fields that aren’t irrigated, but that also means certain diseases were less prevalent in pumpkin plants, The Enterprise reported.
“There are certainly some good fields here, but also some farms where there aren’t as many pumpkins as you usually see. But the pumpkins that are there are good and beautiful,’’ Kip Graham, executive director for Worcester County‘s Farm Service Agency, told Boston.com.
In Massachusetts, the number of farms growing pumpkins rose 14 percent from 2007 to 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Jesse Papirio, a field hand at Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, told Boston.com their farm is not expecting a dip in their pumpkin yield for those looking to use fresh pumpkins in their holiday baking.
“I would honestly say if you’re looking to use fresh pumpkin in recipes, it makes sense to buy earlier rather than later because we generally harvest most of the crop now before the first frost, which for this area could come soon,’’ Papirio said.
So Jack-o-lantern lovers need not fret, it’s believed there will be enough decorative pumpkins for the Halloween season, even if the fate of canned pumpkin treats are more uncertain.
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