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Farmer warns pumpkin patches may not survive scorching summers
Farmers say losses have reached 50% in some fields, leaving smaller pumpkins, sparse displays and higher costs for Halloween attractions.
- Britain's pumpkin patches face a significantly reduced harvest this year after a scorching summer ruined growing conditions, leaving families visiting farms ahead of Halloween with fewer pumpkins than usual.
- The UK saw only 77% of average summer rainfall this year, creating parched conditions where heat stopped pumpkin growth early; wheat yields also fell 40%, compounding agricultural strain.
- Eleanor Gilbert, 24, who runs the Berkshire Farm Girl Pumpkin Patch, reported her crop is down 50%, having spent $8,000 on seeds alone for one variety that yielded just one pumpkin from 1,000 planted.
- Farmers now face mounting costs, with irrigation systems for crops costing upwards of £20,000, while wheat farming has shifted from profitable to costing $80 an acre.
- Future summers pose existential threats to pumpkin farming; Gilbert said, "I am looking at whether this could be my last ever pumpkin harvest" if heat trends intensify.
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left0Leaning Right4Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Center
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources are Center
64% Center
C 64%
R 36%
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