By RHIANNON BRANCH
FarmWeek
Pumpkin harvest is underway in Illinois, the top pumpkin-producing state.
While many families across the state make plans to visit local ornamental pumpkin farms to pick their own treasure for decoration, mass quantities of commercially produced pumpkins are being harvested for grocery store favorites, like canned pumpkin.
For nearly 25 years, Brad Sauder has been growing about 300 acres of commercial pumpkins annually on his farm in Tremont, which are harvested and processed by Nestle.
He told FarmWeek, while there were some challenges earlier in the season, harvest started on time.
“Pumpkins like it a little drier,” he said. “This year, we had a little too much rain early on, and we suffered some fruit rot, so our production is off a little bit, but it’s an average crop for us so far this year.”
He said dry weather during harvest has been helpful since the factory can’t always work around the weather to transport the crop.
“Sometimes they are in my field picking up pumpkins after a heavy rain, and that leaves the fields in rough shape,” he said. “But this year, so far fields have been nice and dry, and we’re grateful for that.”
The Nestle pumpkin processing plant is based in Morton and produces an estimated 85 percent of the world’s canned pumpkin. Sauder said they plant varieties of pumpkins that are ideal for processing, so they look different than the typical jack-o-lantern.
“Our pumpkins are a pale orange or yellow, oblong to round in shape, and we like to see them in the 12-to-15-inch diameter size,” he said.
Data from USDA estimates almost 80 percent of pumpkin acres in Illinois are devoted to varieties destined for pie filling or other processing uses.
The most recent Census of Agriculture data shows Illinois maintained its leading position in pumpkin acreage in 2022, harvesting more than twice as many pumpkin acres as any of the other top states, at 17,600 acres.
Also leading in yield, Illinois produced 634 million pounds of pumpkins in 2022, more than the next five most productive states combined.
In 2023, 96 percent of the value and more than 98 percent of the tonnage (645.8 million pounds) of processed pumpkins came from Illinois.
Sauder noted 2023 was a near record year for pumpkin production on his farm.
This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.