Volume, quality and public interest, US pumpkin growers optimistic

Bumper crop of pumpkins this year according to U.S. farmers reporting growing demand from retailers and public interest in agritourism.

 

 

 

In Illinois, the state that produces the most pumpkins in the United States, the harvest is rated excellent in terms of volume and quality. Some growers believe that this year they harvested the best pumpkins ever. The good weather conditions favored product growth.

 

 

 

Across the country, farmers have seen an increase in retail sales, thanks to interest in baking and decorating. But also a boom for agrotourism. As a result of the health crisis where people have stayed at home, requests to go to the pumpkin fields are exploding. So much so that a producer in California put tickets on sale with timed reservations to limit the density of people present at the same time.

 

 

 

According to an Economic Research Service (ERS) study by USDA, the US Department of Agriculture, Illinois remained the leader in 2019 in acreage with 10,900 acres (4,411 hectares), the other major producing state, California, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia averaged between 4,700 and 5,600 acres (4,700 to 2,266 hectares)

 

 

 

This ERS study also learns that farmers in these 5 states have harvested over 800 million pounds (362,873 tonnes) of pumpkins. Illinois harvested 420 million pounds (190,508 tons), California and Indiana each produced about 120 million pounds (54,421 tons), while the state of Virginia produced about 90 million pounds (40,823 tonnes) and Michigan about 80 million (36,287 tonnes).