People looking for that perfect pumpkin will have to look harder in parts of the state affected by drought.
Farmers describe pumpkins as a drought-resistant crop that doesn’t need a lot of water to thrive. But for parts of western Wisconsin that didn’t see any rain for up to six weeks, the quintessential fall fruits were hit hard.
John Govin of Govin’s Meats and Berries in Dunn County says he hedges that risk by irrigating some of his pumpkin patches. The differences are stark: “The pumpkins that are irrigated are beautiful. My dry land pumpkins are extremely small.”
The bone-dry summer was only part of the issue. Andy Ferguson, of Ferguson’s Orchards in Eau Claire County, says a very rainy spring kept pumpkin growers from getting into the field by up to three weeks.
“We had right from the start that delay in planting, and then later in the summer with the lack of rain it just kind of stunted their growth,” says Ferguson. “It just stopped a lot of pumpkins from growing.”
Ferguson says they normally get about 6,000 or 7,000 pumpkins from their 14-acre patch but this year they’ll be lucky to get 3,000. The delay in planting also means they’ll still be harvesting well into October, the peak pumpkin selling season.
All told, Ferguson says they've got plenty of pumpkins, but it will take some more work to find the perfect one. “We will have enough for all the Halloweeners out there and then for decorations for people’s houses, but they might have to search the patch a little harder to find some.”
Growers outside the drought area in western Wisconsin reported mostly good harvests with plenty of large orange fruit.
