Hurricane Irene may have ruined Halloween for people living in the Northeast. The heavy rains from the hurricane washed out entire pumpkin crops and farmers are scrambling to save what little they have left. Farmers in unaffected areas are seeing pumpkin orders increase. The result is a doubling in current prices at the retail level. According to CNBC: “The wholesale price for a bin of 32 to 45 pumpkins ranged from $150 to $200 in upstate New York, about twice the normal price.”
The pumpkin crop is facing additional problems:
- Postponed planting due to heavy rains before the hurricane.
- A fungus breakout
- A cold snap that could kill the remaining few pumpkins
Very scary.
“Very scary”.
LOL! 🙂
Lest anyone think I’m unsympathetic, I’m from New England and can confirm the damaged crops. I’m just laughing at the implicit Jack-o-Lantern reference.
Good luck finding pumpkins this year!