How extreme weather has impacted pumpkin harvest this season

AccuWeather

Dr. Alan Walters of Southern Illinois University joins the AccuWeather Network to explain how heavy rainfall and summer heat hurt the pumpkin harvest as we continue into autumn.

Transcript

00:00I love fall. I love pumpkin picking. I successfully have beautiful pumpkins and I was very thrilled

00:05with what I got. I bring this up because it's now time for the agriculture advantage. Yes,

00:11and if you throw the AccuWeather in there, we could say it's AAA time. I like that. All right,

00:16it's been a challenging growing season for many crops, from corn struggling with early rain and

00:22late season heat to dry fields for soybeans. Pumpkins are facing the same weather pressures.

00:29This week's AccuWeather Agriculture Advantage looks at how extreme conditions are impacting the fall

00:34pumpkin harvest. Joining us is Dr. Alan Walters, professor of vegetable science and breeding at

00:40Southern Illinois University. What a title there. Let's discuss this year brought heavy spring rains

00:46followed by summer heat and drought. How has that impacted pumpkin yields and quality across

00:52different regions? Well, overall, the pumpkin harvest is really good. The early rains was

00:59kind of beneficial in a way because pumpkins are planted a little bit later than a lot of other

01:04crops. And that kind of helped recharge the soil for the drought that was to come a little bit later.

01:11So the early rains were kind of beneficial. Not everybody had the same luck. Some people struggled

01:16to plant a little bit. But overall, the pumpkins look really good right now.

01:22Of course, like any crop, they can be vulnerable to the weather conditions. What makes pumpkins

01:29vulnerable when the weather conditions turn hot or dry?

01:34Pumpkins, like a lot of the other crops in the cucurbita ACA family, gourds and squash, they are

01:43vulnerable to a lot of similar weather that create problems in pumpkins. The heat is a major part of

01:53this because pumpkins don't sit well in extreme heat and the size is stunted during extreme heat events

02:04and too much water can flood the fields. So we have a lot of stuff that can happen if it occurs at the

02:12at the right time for the pumpkin production season.

02:19You'll have to say that that phrase again of cucurita ACA, the breed of pumpkin. Say that again?

02:25I'm not even going to try to say it.

02:27Cucurita ACA.

02:29That amazing. Anyway, beyond pumpkins. I love it. Do similar fall crops like squash and gourds. Oh,

02:36I love a gourd. Do they face the same kind of weather pressures?

02:40Yes, they're in the same plant family as I just repeated again for you. And they have a lot of

02:48the same problems with the heat set and drought conditions will have an effect on all those cute

02:56little pumpkins, as well as those gourds that we like to have so much during this time of the year.

03:04Of course, there's new technology. And I understand that you are breeding new heat tolerant pumpkin

03:09hybrids. How do these varieties handle extreme temperatures compared to the traditional ones?

03:18Well, we're working on developing pumpkins that have a little bit more heat tolerance to fruit set

03:24because during fruit set, it's very important to have a great pumpkin to set on that vine. And you

03:34see one of the ones that we have right now that's in our breeding program that has the heat set tolerance

03:41as well as the tolerance to develop a large size during heat events, which a lot of the ones that

03:50are on the market today does not have. How long does it take to develop a new

03:55heat resistant pumpkin variety? And what progress are you seeing? And could this research help other

04:02fall crops too? Well, it takes a long time. It takes about 8 to 12 years by the time we make crosses,

04:10by the time we kind of increase those lines, stabilize those lines, and then make the hybrids and do the

04:21evaluations. It takes a number of years to kind of get that pumpkin to where we want it to be,

04:27where it's stable. And we're kind of sure that the pumpkin will do well in a wide variety of different

04:34environments. And I see this is becoming something really important for a lot of other crops

04:38as well, because we have more and more extremities, especially in the summer with high heat. And

04:48there's a lot of other crops that really need heat tolerance in them as we kind of move on in future

04:55years, I think. Yeah, no, really fascinating and amazing work being done. We appreciate you sharing

05:01that. I mean, you look at, you know, you go pumpkin picking and don't realize how much science and

05:05research has been going in to keeping these pumpkins, whether they're on our front porch or

05:09eating them during the fall season. All right, Dr. Alan Walters, Professor of Vegetable Science and

05:14Breeding at Southern Illinois University. Thank you so much again for joining us.

05:19Thank you for having me. And go pumpkins!

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