Cross Plains, Tenn
The National Drought Center at the University of Nebraska estimates that about 38% of the United States is experiencing ‘moderate drought,’ which the National Weather Service defines as damaged crops, low water resources and water damage.
Pumpkin growers — including those in Tennessee’s Cross Plains — are facing drought conditions for the second straight year. Stephen’s freeland pumpkins grow on 14 acres of dry land. He said pumpkins try to adapt to dry conditions, but most of them do not survive.
“Because of the drought. I don’t know. We might have dropped 15 to 20 percent,” Freelanad said. “It’s just rain roulette. Who gets the rain and when? “
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Pumpkin growers in Tennessee said they are harvesting at least 15% fewer pumpkins this year due to recent drought conditions. (FOX News)
Pumpkin seeds pumpkin plants in June, June and July. He said the first set of pumpkins harvested received enough water and came out normal. However, the seeds are planted later in the warm weeks – but without rain.
“The thing with pumpkins, when it gets 95, 98 degrees, the pumpkin plant wants to put out fruit that has just captured fruit,” Freeland said.
When it’s too hot, freeland mean pumpkin plants start to wilt and their flowers fall off easily. On a warm day, the flowers remain open for a short time, which affects the pollution.
Farmers say long periods of heat without rain can cause pumpkin plants to go, which affects pollination. (FOX News)
Farmers have found ways to ease the stress caused by drought. Freeland added Dripy irrigation lines to his pumpkin patch by pumping water from his well. The water line then allows small amounts of water to flow directly to the plant’s roots.
Agricultural reform can be very expensive and force farmers to raise their prices, even though their pumpkins are small.
“The bottom line is if you need to increase the amount, but your size is not there, which makes it more difficult,” said Freeland. “They’re just small, marketing a little.”
Some growers install forced irrigation lines to slowly draw water directly to the pumpkin roots. (FOX News)
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Katie Osborne’s family farm includes 20 acres of pumpkins and 70 head of cattle. Osborne doesn’t run an irrigation line on his farm because he said the cows need water from the ponds to live in the ponds.
Osborne said: “We fall in love with the rain in those critical moments,” Osborne said. “We don’t want to irrigate the ponds because we don’t want to take the source of water from the cows.”
Osbiour said his farm produced a few fewer pumpkins than usual this year. He said timing is key to staying on top of next year’s weather, but it’s too late to do anything about this year’s harvest.
“We also need to be strategic. We know we’re going to get a lot of rain in late June, early June,” Osborne said. “Some of our winning prizes and prizes and big jacks, we need to go ahead and invest in that time.”
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Freeland and Osborne say a lot of rain can do more harm than good, especially since the land is dry and hard. They are hoping for some light rain to settle the soil before starting to plant their winter crops.
