Drought conditions leave pumpkin farmers with empty fields and smaller crops

CROSS PLAINS, Tenn. – Many pumpkin patches won’t look the same this year as drought conditions across the United States leave farmers with empty fields.

The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska estimates around 38% of the United States is experiencing a ‘moderate drought,’ which the National Weather Service defines by damaged crops, low water wells and developing water shortages.  

Pumpkin farmers – including those in Cross Plains, Tennessee – are dealing with drought conditions for a second straight year. Stephen Freeland’s pumpkins are growing in 14 acres of bone-dry soil. He said the pumpkins are trying to adapt to dry conditions, but many of them aren’t surviving.

"Because of the drought. I don't know. We probably dropped 15 to 20 percent," Freelanad said. "It's just a roulette of the rain. Who gets the rain and when?"

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Freeland plants pumpkin seeds in June and July. He said the first set of pumpkins harvested received adequate water and came out normal. However, the seeds he planted later endured weeks of heat – but with no rain.

"The thing with pumpkins, when it gets 95, 98 degrees, the pumpkin plant wants to abort the fruit that it just pollinated," Freeland said. 

When it gets too hot, Freeland said pumpkin plants start to wilt and their flowers fall off more easily. On a warm day, the flowers stay open for shorter periods of time, which affects pollination. 

Farmers have found ways to alleviate the stress caused by the drought. Freeland added drip irrigation lines to his pumpkin field by pumping water from his well. A water line then allows smaller amounts of water to drip directly onto a plant's roots.

Agricultural adaptation can be costly and force farmers to raise their prices, although their pumpkins are smaller. 

"The downside is if you need to raise prices, but your size is not there, that makes it a little more difficult," Freeland said. "They're just smaller, less marketable."

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Katie Osborne’s family farm includes 20 acres of pumpkins and 70 head of cattle. Osborne doesn’t run an irrigation line through her farm because she said the cows need water from the ponds to stay hydrated. 

"We pray a lot, for rain at those critical times," Osborne said. "We don't want to irrigate the ponds because we don't want to take away the water source from the cattle."

Osbourn said her farm produced about 30% fewer pumpkins than usual this year. She said timing is key to staying on top of next year’s weather, but it’s too late to do anything about this year’s harvest. 

"We also need to be strategic. We know that we will get more rain in late May, early June," Osborne said. "Some of our prize-winners and larger jacks, we need to go ahead and plant them at that time."

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Freeland and Osborne said an abundance of rain could do more harm than good, especially as the ground is dry and hard. They're hoping for a gentle rain that the ground can soak up before they begin planting their winter crops.