Michigan’s Pumpkins Are More Plentiful And Larger Than Almost Any Other State’s
It's that time of year when pumpkins are in high demand and that gets Michigan farmers excited every year. Michigan pumpkin producers consistently rank as some of the highest producers of pumpkins in the nation. There are also a few pumpkin farmers who consistently produce some of the largest in the nation.
The exact numbers differ slightly on how many pumpkins are grown, with MichiganGrown.org claiming that Michigan ranks 4th in the nation pumpkin production, but the 2017 Census of Agriculture ranking Michigan 5th in the nation. Either way, Michigan sure does grow a lot of pumpkins.
5 States That Grow Pumpkin The Most Pumpkins (as of 2017)
- New York
MichiganGrown.org also has a few other interesting Michigan pumpkin facts, like Michigan pumpkins generate $9.8 million of revenue from the 79 million pounds produced and most of those pumpkins are used for processing and Jack-o-lanterns.
And if you are looking for records, Michigan was home to one of the largest pumpkins ever grown. Don Barron of LaSalle Michigan holds the state record with his massive 2,118 pumpkin from 2019. Him and Mark Clementz of Holly, Michigan are the two top dogs when it comes to competitive pumpkin growing. Clementz grew a 1,947 pound pumpkin in 2014 to snag the record and then grew his largest pumpkin in 2017 at 2,043 pounds to beat his own record. You can check out the 20 largest pumpkins grown in Michigan here.
You can check out the rest of the rankings in this blog by Zippia.com. Oddly enough though, in another Zippia.com article, Michigan only ranked 28th in a list of the most pumpkin spice obsessed states. (In case you're wondering, Maine, Utah, and Montana are the most obsessed.)