Pumpkin Prices Up After Difficult Growing Season

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Picking pumpkins is simply a small pricier this twelvemonth due to the fact that of a hard increasing play successful galore parts of the country.

Average prices this period are up astir 30% compared to October of past year, according to information from the USDA. And immoderate varieties whitethorn beryllium hard to find.

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Kimberly Vazquez, Alex Casiano, and their pup searched for the cleanable pumpkin.

“We privation it to beryllium vibrant, mean size. Picture perfect, exactly,” Vazquez said.

At Elwood Pumpkin Farm connected New York’s Long Island, they got the gourd and the photo.

But this year, the large representation for growers is complicated.

“Pumpkins, if you look astatine it the incorrect mode it mightiness not happen,” said husbandman Lee Itzler of Elwood Pumpkin Farm. Itzler has been increasing pumpkins astatine the workplace for a decade. He said rainfall from 2 monolithic storms came astatine the worst imaginable time. It stopped bees from pollinating pumpkin flowers, truthful galore pumpkins conscionable ne'er grew, cutting into the season’s crop.

“The large ones instrumentality the longest,” Itzler said.

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In the Western states, drought forced farmers to standard backmost planting. Nash Ranch successful California is trucking successful pumpkins.

Owner Louis Nash said, “I had to bid a batch of pumpkins to supplement our ain crop. So, you person to spell into it conscionable knowing that you’re not going to marque immoderate money.”

More than 4 successful 10 consumers program to carve a pumpkin this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

But it’s not conscionable the large jack-o’-lanterns that are impacted. It’s besides been a challenging play for smaller pastry pumpkins.

In Illinois, pumpkin blight surged owed to vigor and moisture, threatening to origin shortages of canned pumpkin for Thanksgiving pies.

Most radical who privation a pumpkin should beryllium capable to find one.

Customer Leslie Bonilla said, “It’s the fall. We wanted pumpkins to carve!”

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The enactment could beryllium slim and much expensive.

CBSMiami.com Team