Despite heavy rain during the first days of August, pumpkin growers are still hoping for a good crop.
"We planted 40 acres in May, and there wasn't enough moisture," said Jay Fischer, who farms in North Jefferson City. "Then it rained at the end of June and into July. We got more rain in July than we had for all of April through June."
Pumpkins just don't like wet weather, Fischer said.
"Pumpkins get a lot of fungal type of diseases, and we have to spray with different chemicals to keep mildew off them," he said. "Right now we're dealing with pumpkins that have come up looking good, but we have to spray them."
Fischer the heavy rains left standing water in the fields, and while pumpkins do need some moisture, the standing water is not good for them.
"The vines look good, and we're hoping to have a decent crop," he said. "We just have to baby the new ones. The quality should be OK, but if we get more heavy rains that could change.
"It's kind of tough to get excited about a good yield at this point," he added. "We'll still have a variety, though. The ornamental pie, squash and Jack O' Lantern style should all be available."
Fischer said he would normally expect 15,000 pounds per acre in pumpkins, but he doesn't think they'll reach that mark this season.
Fischer said other crops are looking good, as far as yields.
"Beans were a real challenge to get going," he said. "First of June there was not a lot of rain. A lot of them laid in the ground for weeks, and we have some uneven fields. Those that we planted early, though, have got a real good look."
The latest forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show Missouri should get 5.5 million acres of soybeans harvested in 2016, compared to 4.5 million acres last year. Corn production is also forecast to be up, going from not quite 3.1 million acres in 2015 to 3.5 million acres this year.
Farmers in the Missouri River bottoms got an average of 8 inches of rain the first couple of days this month, and that much rain at one time will be a yield robber, Fischer said.
"We had to pump water out of the corn maze," he said. "We had 3 acres under water, so we set up a couple of pumps to get that out. That's never happened. How many times do you get 8 inches to start August? If we hadn't done that, we would have lost 3 acres."
Fischer said his farm is scheduled to open its annual corn maze the last week of September.