Will West Virginia have pumpkins this season? A drought is affecting those chances

HUTTONSVILLE, W.Va. (WBOY) — Pumpkin season may still be a couple of months away, but West Virginia’s summer drought has become a concern for local farmers, leaving many farms like Snyder Farms in Huttonsville struggling to have enough pumpkins ready to be picked by October.

Owner Randall Snyder has owned his more than 375-acre family farm for decades and began offering a pumpkin patch and corn maze for the community around five years ago. But this year, there’s trouble.

“We’ve struggled a lot with one, getting some of the new varieties that we’ve brought in to grow because they were ones that traditionally thrive a little more in areas that have a lot more moisture in them so we ran into a lot of those haven’t grown. Some of the ones that have grown either are not growing as well or they’re growing way too fast,” said Snyder’s daughter, Kerrie Snyder.

Some of the pumpkins are around a month and a half ahead of schedule. Last year, the Snyder family said that they had a harvest of around 300 pumpkins. This year they’re expecting half of that despite having planted more seeds and a greater variety of pumpkins.

The pumpkins that grew faster did so due to the constant sun exposure. They also ripened much faster than they should have which resulted in a smaller size than previous years, according to the Snyders.

When 12 News visited Snyder Farms, it drizzled twice on and off for no more than 10 minutes, with the ground still feeling as dry as before the rain. The Snyders said this kind of rain is not enough.

“We haven’t gotten enough moisture to raise our water table. Our pumpkin patch, it’s suffered so much, I don’t think it’s going to come back. As you can see these logs and vines are already dying. And honestly, where we didn’t get the weed control done it’s the best we’ve got because it was shaded and the hot sun has impacted the plants,” said Randall Snyder.

West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture and the Snyders said that even if it rains, the damage has already been done. However, Leonhardt said that despite the damage, the goal now is to make sure that the continuing effects are minimized.

“We do need the rain, we know it’s coming, we want a little bit of rain at first so the ground softens up so that when the heavier rains hit, that it’s more likely to absorb and we get a good deep soaking to the root base,” Leonhardt said.

Leonhardt added that if farms are only hit with heavy rain there’s a risk of it all running off. However, the Snyders aren’t giving up.

“When the school groups come to visit us we always like to give every kid a pumpkin to take home with them and we’re going to continue this year, if my outside sources can supply me. And I’ve been in contact with them and we’re going to survive one way or another, we will make it,” said Randall Snyder.

One of Snyder’s sources is from the Shenandoah area and he said that the current plan is to get a truckload of pumpkins from them and bring it to the area as he and his family want to continue providing to their community. The Snyder family said even with getting pumpkins from outside sources, they will work on making sure their pricing stays around the same to make the pumpkin patch and corn maze experience for their area accessible to all.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBOY.com.