October 15, 2009

Despite rainy summer, good pumpkin harvest expected

RICHMOND—The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced this week that statewide the 2009 pumpkin crop is good, and in many places, excellent. But some areas struggled with summer rains that affected pumpkin growth.

“We just didn’t have as good of a crop as we have had in the past,” said Hudson Reese, a vegetable grower in Halifax County. “We saw a lot of leaf disease, and we planted later in the season this year. We had so much rain this summer that it really hurt the young plants. They just couldn’t set fruit.”

Plant disease was just part of the problem for growers in Southwest Virginia.

“What we saw a lot of problems with was deer damage,” said Montgomery County grower Nick McNeil. “It just wasn’t a good year for us. The rain didn’t help either. Mildew was a big problem. Most of the growers I have spoken to had to spray fungicide to prevent the mildew.”

But some areas did see plenty of pumpkins. VDACS estimates that Virginia farmers will sell around 67.5 million pounds of pumpkins this year. The value of the crop is estimated to be around $10 million.

“This is the year of the specialty pumpkin,” said Todd P. Haymore, Virginia’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. “Many consumers are interested in the big or giant varieties, 50 or even 100 pounds and up. Regardless of what type of pumpkin you choose, I encourage all Virginians to buy Virginia Grown pumpkins this year, and of course we welcome out-of-state buyers, too.”

For a listing of fall festivals, many of which celebrate pumpkins and other fall farm products such as apples and gourds, visit vdacs.virginia.gov/news/festival.shtml.

Contact Reese at 434-454-6302; McNeil at 540-320-6145; Elaine Lidholm, VDACS communications director, at 804-786-7686; or Sherri McKinney, VFBF video producer, at 804-290-1148.