Pumpkins are rolling out of Virginia fields despite a difficult season, the Virginia Farm Bureau reports. The state has nearly 400 pumpkin farmers on 4,700 acres; the crop earned nearly $17 million in cash receipts in 2025, ranking Virginia eighth nationally.

"Definitely the word to be used this year is 'challenging,'" said Nathan Osborne, a Grayson County farmer and president of the Virginia Pumpkin Growers Association. An early drought left growers debating whether to plant, and many planted late, delaying harvest; July downpours then brought disease and rot to stressed fields.

In Tazewell County, Andy Neel, who grows more than 20 varieties on 5 acres, said the dry start cut yield and fruit set and storms later rotted "a good many pumpkins", though he still has plenty to sell, much of it through the Southwest Virginia Farmers Market. Osborne added that high gas and diesel prices have made it harder to move the crop, and that many growers are absorbing the cost rather than passing it on.

"There's plenty of crop out there," said Jeff Sears of Hanover Vegetable Farm, who grows 32 acres of pumpkins and was preparing to open his pick-your-own patch.

Photo: Virginia State Parks staff / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Source: Morning Ag Clips