Drought preventing pumpkins from growing

PLATTE COUNTY, Mo. - The drought is killing not only crops, but the traditions that come with them. No water will mean no picking from the pumpkin patch this fall.

Kathy Wright owns Pumpkins Etc. in Platte County and has a tough time finding just one pumpkin in the five-acre patch. It should be full this time of year.

"Right down here, there's one tiny little pumpkin," Wright said, pointing to a vine. "But it's yellow and so that means it's going to fall off."

The pumpkins have received almost no rain all summer, and that will change how the business operates in the fall.

"We'll let the customers come out here (the pumpkin patch) and wander around because that's what they do every year," said Wright.

Except this year the only pumpkins customers find, will be shipped in. The numerous school groups that visit will learn more about a drought than a harvest.

With all the money it takes just to get the pumpkins planted and now the cost of bringing them in, Wright knows this season will end in the red.

"We're not going to come out very good this year," she said.

Like anyone who depends on weather, all Wright can do is hope for better luck next year.

"That's how farming is. Some years are good and some years aren't," Wright said.