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As families head to the pumpkin patch to find the best pumpkins for carving and decoration leading up to Halloween, an assistant professor in Purdue University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture says there should be plenty of ideal pumpkins to choose from.
Stephen Meyers says consumers in Indiana and across the country can expect an above-average pumpkin crop, both in terms of yield and quality.
In an interview for The Associated Press, Meyers added that overall, pumpkin prices this year will be similar to recent years.
“I think a lot of price depends on where you live and where you buy your pumpkins,” he said. “So the price may be different whether you buy it directly from the farmer at a pumpkin patch or a farmers market, compared to some place like a big-box store.”
Meyers also noted that the 2024 pumpkin harvest began earlier than normal. Typically, he said, you-pick pumpkin farms in Indiana and around the Midwest usually wait until the second or third week of September to open.
“And this year we saw pumpkin farms with patches that were open the last week of August, first week of September. So it just seems like it’s an earlier season, which just lets people enjoy pumpkins for more time before Halloween.”
Meyers said in recent years, Indiana has been the top producer of fresh market pumpkins—meaning the whole pumpkin is sold. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Indiana produced the most pumpkins by value at $30 million in 2022.
“So it’s important to note that Indiana’s a pumpkin state, not just a corn and soybean state,” he said.
Illinois harvests the largest share of pumpkin acreage in the country, however, the USDA notes that the majority of those pumpkins are harvested for processing to be used in products such as pie filling.
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