Empty Fields and Volleyball-Sized Pumpkins

Some Kansas pumpkin patches had too few pumpkins to open this fall, and others had to truck them in from other farms. The cause was a brutally hot, dry summer that ranked among the driest on record in south-central Kansas, KCUR and the Kansas News Service reported on Oct. 28.

At Klausmeyer Farm and Pumpkin Patch in Clearwater, southwest of Wichita, the vines never branched out properly despite drip irrigation. Hot summer nights stunted the plants, leaving only volleyball-sized pumpkins instead of the large carving pumpkins customers want. Owner Debbie Klausmeyer summed up the farm's attitude toward the weather in three words: "Kansas is Kansas."

Near Wichita, Meadowlark Farm Orchard and Cidery owner Tom Brown faced a different sequence. A 7-inch rain in June washed out many young plants and killed about 30% of his pumpkin crop. Then the heat arrived, and by mid-August the surviving pumpkins were rotting in the field. Brown pumped both of his ponds dry and saved his last water for his apple trees, then bought pumpkins from another farm to stock his patch.

The pumpkin shortfall is the most visible part of a much larger problem — one that started with the wheat crop in spring. The same summer weather cut into Kansas soybeans and corn, following a spring drought that produced one of the state's worst wheat crops in decades.

Measuring a Dust Bowl Comparison

"Driest since the Dust Bowl" is a specific comparison, and the numbers support it for Wichita. The National Weather Service office in Wichita reports that Eisenhower National Airport received only 0.75 inches of rain in July and August combined, compared with a normal of 8.28 inches. That ranks as the second-driest July-August since records began in 1888. The only drier stretch was 1936, at the height of the Dust Bowl, when Wichita recorded 0.25 inches.

The heat was just as remarkable. Wichita reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit every day in August, a first for the city. It logged 10 days of 100 degrees or more in September, a September record, and tied its annual record of 101 days at 90 degrees or higher. The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service described July and August as the driest period in Kansas since the Dust Bowl.

The comparison has limits. The 1930s Dust Bowl combined years of drought with severe soil erosion from plowed-up prairie, which is why it produced giant dust storms. The 2026 drought did not repeat that land-use disaster, partly because of soil conservation practices adopted since then. The comparison is about rainfall, not dust.

Conditions also varied across the state. Some counties received less than an inch of rain in late summer, while others got heavy early-season downpours followed by heat. September brought relief to parts of eastern Kansas. As of the Sept. 15 U.S. Drought Monitor map, about 52% of Kansas was in moderate drought or worse, down from 55% the week before, the Salina Post reported. South-central Kansas remained the driest region of the state for the year.

Heat After Rain Hits Pumpkins Twice

Pumpkins are thirsty plants, and they also need steady conditions while flowers set fruit. Brown's experience shows how back-to-back extremes can hurt more than either one alone.

A heavy June rain can wash out young seedlings and the herbicide that keeps weeds down, which is what happened at Meadowlark Farm. Weeds then compete for water. When intense heat follows, stressed plants struggle to set and size fruit, and rot, insects and disease move in on pumpkins already in the field. Hot nights matter too, because plants cannot recover from the day's heat stress, which is what stunted growth at Klausmeyer Farm.

Irrigation helped but could not fully compensate — Klausmeyer's drip system ran almost all season, yet the pumpkins stayed small. Farms with limited water, like Brown's, had to choose which crops to save.

Wheat and Soybean Losses Carry Into Next Year

The pumpkin story sits on top of a hard year for Kansas field crops. In May, the USDA projected the smallest U.S. wheat crop since 1972, at 1.56 billion bushels, down 21% from 2025, the Associated Press reported. As of May 17, 58% of Kansas wheat was rated poor or very poor, a level the state has seen only five times in 40 years, and about 17% of the crop was abandoned.

"It's very tough conditions that growers are faced with right now," Kansas State University agronomist Romulo Lollato said at the time.

Summer crops took the next hit. In its August crop production report, USDA forecast Kansas soybean yields at 38 bushels per acre, down 10.5 bushels from 2025, and corn at 126 bushels per acre, down 19, according to Biofuels Digest. Klausmeyer Farm reported drought damage to its own soybeans and wheat.

Farmers are also absorbing higher costs. Western Kansas farmer Mike Nickelson told the AP that diesel was up nearly $2 a gallon from a year earlier and urea fertilizer had climbed from about $400 to between $600 and $700 a ton. Crop insurance and federal payments offer only partial relief.

For households, the effects are mostly indirect. Patches that had to buy pumpkins from other farms took on added costs, and agritourism operators leaned on corn mazes, pig races, hayrides and haunted barns to make up for thin pumpkin sales. A smaller U.S. wheat crop does not necessarily translate quickly into grocery prices, because global supplies can offset domestic shortfalls.

The bigger concern is next season. Kansas farmers are now planting and establishing the 2027 winter wheat crop, which depends heavily on fall and winter moisture. Readers can track conditions through the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor, released every Thursday, and through seasonal outlooks from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, which are probabilities rather than guarantees.

The bottom line is that Wichita's driest late summer since 1936 left its mark on everything from jack-o'-lanterns to wheat fields. The next test for Kansas farms is whether fall and winter moisture arrives in time for the 2027 crop.

What Readers Want to Know

How dry was the Kansas summer? Wichita received 0.75 inches of rain in July and August, versus a normal 8.28 inches. It was the second-driest July-August since 1888, behind only 1936.

What does "driest since the Dust Bowl" mean? It means rainfall was lower than in any comparable period since 1936. It does not mean the Dust Bowl's massive dust storms returned.

Why were pumpkins hit so hard? Heavy June rain washed out plants and herbicide at some farms, then extreme heat and hot nights stunted growth and caused rot.

Which other crops suffered? USDA projected the smallest U.S. wheat crop since 1972, and forecast sharp drops in Kansas soybean and corn yields.

Will food prices rise? Local pumpkin prices may be higher. National bread and grocery prices are less directly affected because global supplies can offset U.S. losses.

What happens next? Farmers need fall and winter moisture for the 2027 winter wheat crop. The U.S. Drought Monitor updates every Thursday.