Overview of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference Pumpkin Session

I spent a week in Hershey, PA at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference (MAFVC) where over 2,000 growers participated in the annual ritual of learning new information to keep their livelihood profitable. Over 180 presentations during the four days covered weed management in asparagus to high density pear systems and everything in-between.


Typically there are three sessions that draw huge, overflowing crowds over the 4-day event; the tomato, sweet corn, and pumpkin sessions. One might understand the popularity of the first two as they are edible crops but most pumpkins are not grown for their eating characteristics but their ornamental value. According to the USDA Agriculture Statistics Service, over 6,700 acres of pumpkins were harvested in Pennsylvania in 2010 that was valued at more than $16 million. This was enough to place them in the top five pumpkin producing states in the nation.

Many seed companies were on hand at the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Conference
trade show to showcase their new offerings.  Abbott & Cobb had several of their pumpkins on
display to entice growers to the table and
start a conversation about the upcoming growing
season.

One of my responsibilities at this conference is to organize the yearly pumpkin session. I, along with another colleague, try to come up with topics to address the latest pest issues, marketing ideas, and new production methods. I guess we do a pretty good job as this session is usually standing room only most years.

Some people like to cut and carve their pumpkins for porch displays but there is a growing market for pumpkins that have faces or fall scenes painted onto the pumpkin shell. This year, we brought in a resident from Clinton County, Coreena Meyer of Loganton, to talk about the business of painting pumpkins. Her crew paints over 28,000 pumpkins to deliver to local markets in a very short time frame (they can’t start painting pumpkins until the pumpkin crop is harvested from the fields). She talked about curing the pumpkins, paints used, and tricks of the trade. The most amazing aspect of her business is that no two painted pumpkins are alike. She does not use stencils but draws freehand to ensure that each customer gets a personalized fall decoration.

Although pumpkin viruses did not seem as bad as previous years, we thought it was time for growers to brush up on the virus issue. Dr. Gerald Brust from the University of Maryland talked about some of his research in evaluating cultivars that have some virus resistance. Although there are over 30 types of pumpkin viruses in the world, he stated that the ones of concern in our region are watermelon mosaic, papaya ringspot, zucchini yellows, and cucumber mosaic (I wonder why a scientist wouldn’t give one of these a pumpkin name?). Breeders are starting to work more virus resistance into new releases, such as such as ‘Magician’, ‘Corvette’, and ‘Triumph’, to help growers combat these diseases.

Viruses are not the only disease problem on pumpkins. Dr. Andrew Wyenandt of Rutgers University gave growers a good overview of other diseases that can ruin a crop. Powdery mildew seems to be at the top of the list for growers and he covered the importance of planting resistant/tolerant cultivars, early detection of symptoms, and preventative fungicide application programs.

Steve Groff of Cedar Meadow Farms has a huge following throughout the Unites States for his successful efforts in growing crops in no-till systems and we try to bring him in every couple of years. His primary goal, beside making a living, is to maintain a permanent cover of crop residues and cover crops on the soil surface to provide weed control, reduce soil erosion, and increase soil and water quality. The other benefit of his systems as it pertains to pumpkins is cleanliness. Pumpkins lay on the ground until harvested, and are in very close contact to the soil. If a rain event occurs shortly before harvest, soil splashes onto the pumpkins and dirties it up. With no-till, the pumpkins lay on-top of a dead cover crop and there is no contact with the soil. Clean pumpkins and happy farmers.

The session wrapped up as I, and colleagues Tim Elkner and Emelie Swackhamer, presented data of our 2011 statewide pumpkin variety trial. At both Penn State research farms (the Russell E. Larson Research and Education Center at Rock Springs and the Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Manheim), the cultivar ‘Apogee’ was the highest yielding at over 20 tons per acre. Swackhamer tied up the session by talking about her 2011 summer field day centered on the variety trial.

At some point this year, my colleagues and I will sit down and design another great pumpkin program for the 2013 MAFVC.