Heat shrinks Styrian pumpkin harvest but improves seed quality

Heat and drought are expected to reduce this year’s pumpkin harvest in Styria, but farmers forecast high quality pumpkin seeds, ORF reported. Less moisture has reduced the risk of rot, while many sunny days have supported the crop.

“The yield will be below average,” said Franz Labugger, who runs an oil mill in Lebring in Leibnitz district. He said some gravel soils had suffered a total crop failure, while fields in eastern and western Styria were producing good yields.

Much depended on when the pumpkins were planted. “This year once again showed that the fields planted early are the best,” Labugger said. Early planting carries a risk of frost damage, but frost and hail were largely avoided this year.

“Some farmers were affected and are personally suffering because they have nothing. That hurts, of course. But on average, we have to say that we got away with a black eye,” Labugger said of the harvest volume.

About 10 percent more pumpkins were planted in Styria than in other years, which helped offset the lower yields. Labugger said the dry periods had not necessarily harmed the seeds. Excessive moisture would have made rot more likely, while the many sunny days were expected to result in “excellent quality”.