This year's pumpkin yields have been devastatingly low for pumpkin farmers in the Niagara Peninsula, CBC Canada reported. The hot and dry summer created less than ideal growing conditions for pumpkins, which have left fields barren without fruit.
What's happening?
In the CBC report, Donna Warner, a pumpkin farmer in Welland, Ontario, shared that she had never seen her pumpkin fields so empty in her and her husband's 30 years of running their farm.
The Warners have an eight-hectare pumpkin patch, which is equivalent to 19.77 acres of fields, but the hot and dry summer left them with "big areas of nothing," she said in an exclusive interview with CBC.
Pumpkin farmers in the northern regions typically plant pumpkins by late May, well after frost periods, to harvest pumpkins for Halloween, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. Pumpkins can take up to three to four months to reach full maturity, depending on the pumpkin variety.
The summer season, which provides plenty of sunlight for pumpkins to grow, encourages ideal growing conditions when supplemented with plenty of fertilization and water.
However, this past summer was unusually hot and dry — with 85% of the country classified as "abnormally dry" or "moderate to extreme drought" by September-end, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. These growing conditions drastically reduced pumpkin yields.
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"I literally thought I was going to be sick," Warner explained. Warner's pumpkin yields this year are 70% less than what they usually produce, according to CBC.
Why is decreased crop yield important?
Changing weather patterns aren't only affecting pumpkin yields. They are also impacting key crops, including soybeans, ginger, rice, onions, and many other fruits and vegetables globally. Some fields, like the Warners', are dry and desolate from a lack of rain, whereas others are drowning from unprecedented rainfall.
Reduced crop yields affect the supply of food globally, which causes food prices to rise. Consumers are asked to shoulder the burden of this increased cost, whereas farmers are usually forced to cover the rest if government aid is not available. These economic pressures are not new to farmers, but they can slowly put farmers out of business.
What can I do to help?
None of us can directly influence weather patterns, but we can take measures to reduce the drastic swings and the risk of extreme weather events. Human activities, including burning dirty fuels for energy, have contributed to the rapid rise of global temperatures, which increases the risk of extreme weather events.
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