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<\/p>\nThe pumpkin patches on a number of Canadian farms are starting to look a bit frightening across the country, but not in a way that makes them ready for Halloween.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s sure been a spooky season,\u201d said Greg MacKenzie, the owner of Mackenzie Produce in Stratford, P.E.I.<\/p>\n
He said his own farm has a reduced yield of pumpkins<\/a> this year. A number of vines have died off and the jumbo-sized orange fruit does not weigh as much as it should, he said.<\/p>\n Most of them might be too small to harvest this year, he added, which could cut into how much he is able to export to the United States.<\/p>\n \u201cNormally we count on September rains to kind of save us,\u201d MacKenzie said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t see something in the next couple weeks, it\u2019s going to be pretty hard to make it up.\u201d<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n MacKenzie isn\u2019t alone. Across Canada, some farmers have shared similar stories with The Canadian Press, explaining that drought and extreme heat are cutting into the size and supply of pumpkins that are usually carved into jack-o\u2019-lanterns for Halloween or frozen and canned for food.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re watching very closely every week just to see how things are progressing,\u201d Mackenzie said \u201cIt\u2019s a fine line of, you know, treading water at this point, but with no water to tread.\u201d<\/p>\n There were few regions spared from this season\u2019s punishing drought.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore on Science and Tech The Canadian Drought Monitor for August said about 71 per cent of the country was classified as abnormally dry or moderate to extreme aridity, including 70 per cent of Canada\u2019s farmland.<\/p>\n The unusual weather patterns could be a troubling sign of more problems in the future.<\/p>\n In a recent assessment of the latest scientific research, the Canadian Climate Institute notes that global warming is increasing the risk and severity of droughts in parts of the country that are already struggling to cope with water shortages.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n Citing recent data from Statistics Canada, the institute also says droughts were a significant factor in driving a surge in crop insurance payments to farmers in recent years, as the payouts rose from $890 million in 2018 to $4.9 billion in 2024.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n The severity of the drought in central Alberta has turned most of the grass and greenery a muddy shade of brown, Mike Williams of Ponoka, Alta., said.<\/p>\n He explained he began watering the parched soil on his farm to get it ready in May, a few weeks before he planted a crop of pumpkins and squash.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been hauling water,\u201d he said. \u201cI hauled almost 300,000 litres of water \u2026 since around May.\u201d<\/p>\n While last year was mostly a writeoff, he said he is \u201cfeeling better\u201d about the crop this year with some of the pumpkins weighing between 30 and 40 pounds.<\/p>\n Roy Phillips, owner of the Phillips\u2019 Family Farm, in northwest London, who grows pumpkins, gourds and squash, said the season has delivered a mixed bag of weather, with rain in the first few months, followed by six weeks of dry weather. \u201cOh, it\u2019s kind of weird, but it\u2019s been a crazy season all year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Because Phillips grows his crop on clay soil rather than sandy land, he said his farm retains water better than most others, which has helped his pumpkins.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not my best crop, but some stuff is really good,\u201d he said. \u201cThe pumpkins are very good quality.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he grows a variety of crops, including different types of squash and pumpkins, with a variety of colours and some have turned out well. But he also noted that the mixed weather patterns have reduced the number and size of his pumpkins.<\/p>\n \n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n
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