CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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A farm crew in Manteca harvests Big Mac pumpkins, which can weigh 40 to 100 pounds. Growers in San Joaquin County account for two-thirds of California’s annual commercial pumpkin production.
Wholesale pumpkin producers enjoy robust harvest By Vicky Boyd
Because they stagger their plantings to mature over a prolonged period, yield reduc- tions were not crop-wide. “The good news is the later fields look very, very nice, and it looks like we’ll have ample supply to cover our orders,” he said. Brenna Aegerter, a University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable advisor in San Joaquin County, described the season as relatively quiet with only one grower call to look at a pest problem. She hadn’t heard any heat-related damage figures, but she said she suspected there likely was some yield reduction, depending on the plant growth stage. Historically, San Joaquin County has accounted for about two-thirds of the state’s commercial pumpkin production annually, according to county agricultural commis- sioner crop reports. The 0.25 to 0.5 inch of rain the county received in mid-September had little effect,
Art Perry, CEO of George Perry & Sons in Manteca, isn’t bashful about pumpkin season and his love of the orange—and now a host of other fall-colored—squash. “I’ve been in the pumpkin business with my family for years, and this is the best time of the year for me,” he said. “What I always like about Halloween, and it goes back to when I was a child, is that to me it was a happy time. Pumpkins can make children happy, and when they’re happy, we usually become happy as adults.” Perry has reason to smile this season: Demand from wholesale customers has been strong. “Right now, all of the people we’re doing business with are right on board as far as movement,” he said. “There’s a lot of activity going forward, and I think everybody is very positive about it.” Growing conditions were relatively mild throughout much of the season, but Perry said the early September heat wave caused some damage, especially to plants in the crucial fruit-set stage.
See PUMPKINS, Page 14
October 19, 2022 Ag Alert 13
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