Family farm cancels pumpkin patch for 2025 season after poor crop yield

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A local farm will not be opening its pumpkin patch this fall due to poor crop conditions.

In a Facebook post, LH Willms said very few pumpkins grew this year, and the ones that did failed to reach full maturity. 

Owner Hannah Willms told Energeticcity.ca the lack of heat during the growing season made it impossible to produce enough pumpkins to make the patch viable.

“For the last two years, we’ve grown about 1,500 pumpkins and we’ve been able to open up and have people come buy them right from our farm,” Willms said. “But this season has been different. 

“The pumpkins we planted are still very immature, and they’re not going to make it before the frost.”

While the region experienced some drought early this spring, Willms clarified drought wasn’t the only issue.

“We actually had a tough start because we had some drought this spring, but we are considered actually not in a drought anymore in the northeast. We’ve gotten a lot of rain, and that’s why we just had a really cool summer,” she explained.

“Pumpkins need a lot of heat units to mature and bloom. We’re getting some heat now, but over the summer, we actually probably only had a week of really warm weather, so the rest have been rainy and cooler temperatures.”

The area around Willms’ farm is considered to be abnormally dry (D0) by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. This is better than other areas in the region, with some around Dawson Creek considered to be in extreme drought (D3).

Willms said the decision not to open the pumpkin patch was also influenced by costs, as running it requires additional staffing and resources.

“I’ve kept it reasonably cheap for admission, but I need a certain amount of staff,” she said. “I can’t afford to hire my staff if I also don’t have any income from the pumpkins.”

Willms also noted that while their pumpkin patch won’t open this year, she hopes other local farms, like Chambers Farm, may still have patches this season.

The farm is inviting visitors to make one last stop before it closes to the public for the season.

 From August 28th to 31st, guests can visit its sunflower field at 15359 Rose Prairie Road, in Rose Prairie, B.C., to take photos with the annual ‘How Tall This Fall’ sign.