Focus at Four: Texas pumpkin crop down due to drought
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – The time to carve pumpkins before Halloween is running out and the pickings are getting slim. The pumpkin crop in Texas yielded 20-40% of a typical year, according to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension. The lack of rain is the primary factor.
“We started off with a really good summer. We had good rainfall in June and July and when we got to mid-July, we stopped receiving rainfall and that was the peak growing time for our pumpkins,” Extension Agent Mark Carroll said.
Carroll said heat is a big component of pumpkin growth, but the heat Texas experienced this summer was too extreme.
“The heat helps to keep fungicide funguses off the pumpkins. They are prone to get funguses on them. And so if we have some dry heat through the summer that helps to keep the funguses away,” Carroll said.
Producers Carroll talked with said they are seeing the same prices for their crops because other states had better than normal yields.
“It’s averaged out across the nation where we still have a plentiful supply of pumpkins across the nation,” Carroll said.
You can see Mark’s entire conversation on First News at Four in the video player above.
