‘Crisis’ for UK farmers as terrible weather ruins Halloween pumpkin harvests

Halloween celebrators face the frightening prospect of a shortage of pumpkins to carve this October as dismal weather across Britain has ‘ruined the harvest’. 

Hollowing out and sculpting scary faces into the bright orange squash is a tradition enjoyed by millions during the occult festival, but nightmare weather conditions mean farmers have been struggling to grow enough of the crop to meet demand.

The Daily Star reports pumpkin growers around the country have reported crops failing, blaming the chillier-than-normal June and July amid brutal Arctic winds.

Scarily some pumpkin patches, often frequented by families wanting to pick their own, have even been forced to shut down.

Farms and shops without pumpkins are trying to buy lorry loads from wholesalers, but the sellers have almost sold out, meaning some families could be left without Jack-o’-lanterns next month.

Lyburn Farm, Landford, Wiltshire, one of Britain’s biggest pumpkin wholesalers, reported a rush of other farms trying to buy its 200,000 pumpkins and 400,000 squashes.

Boss Jono Smales said: “We’ve managed to grow pumpkins this year, but we’re getting a lot of calls from growers across the country, especially the North, whose crops have failed due to the summer weather. They want to buy our pumpkins.

“Everyone’s looking for lorry loads – but our order book has got pretty full and we’re almost sold out. We’ve had calls from growers, farms, pumpkin patches, and a supermarket.

“Pumpkins are planted in May, so the cool June and July meant the crop could not be established on some farms and either died, or is very, very late.”

Kilduff Farm in East Lothian, Scotland, has been forced to permanently close its pumpkin patch after the weather damaged crops.

Lucy Calder, from Kilduff Farm, said: “Unpredictable weather meant delivering a large pumpkin field became so challenging.”

Many farms are also still advertising for pickers just two weeks before the start of the season, amid fears some pumpkins could be left to rot in fields.

Mr Smales said: “It can be hard for pumpkin patches to get pickers just for a few weeks’ work.”