Marty Gordon
Contributing writer
Photos by Marty Gordon
Approximately 200 pumpkin farmers call Virginia home with a vast majority of them being here in southwest Virginia.
Dan Brann and Chuck King began growing the fruit in 1995. Since then, their Riner patch has produced nearly 100,000 pumpkins annually for the past five years. Most of those are sold at Walmart retail locations throughout the state.
Last month, Brann and King hosted a group of pumpkin farmers from across the country. The Virginia Cooperative Extension Service co-sponsored the visit that drew people from as far away as Montana.
“We wanted to give back and maybe encourage younger farmers to get into the pumpkin business,” Brann said.
The future is what the two Montgomery County farmers are looking to.
“We hope more young farmers decide to raise pumpkins,” continued Brann.
It wasn’t until around 10 years ago the Brann-King farm became one of the sole providers to the Walmart contract. Since then, their yield has been on a steady rise.
The local farmers now grow pumpkins on a secluded 30-acre location that is not open to the public.
Many producers are reporting 2018 was a great growing season, and state agricultural officials say southwest Virginia is quickly becoming a major player in the pumpkin market.
An estimated 2,300 acres are being used to grow “wholesale” pumpkins with a value of more than $11 million.
Sandy Adams, who is the commissioner at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said the state is fortunate to have a favorable environment to grow pumpkins.
The pumpkin is a member of the squash family, which is typically round with a deep yellow to orange color.
Josh Long is one of those young farmers Brann and King hope to push into the pumpkin business. Long has been helping the two since he was 12 years old.
This year, he stepped up the effort and admits he would like to be more involved in the business. Maybe, even one day, having his own patch.
While he is a full-time firefighter in Roanoke County, he spends a lot of his spare time in the Riner patch, picking and loading pumpkins.
His wife, Kaylee and 10-month-old daughter Savannah even stop by on a regular basis. In addition, Josh’s father also helps at the farm.
“We can’t do it all ourselves, and we’re both getting older. So it’s important to have people like Josh around that might someday carry the effort on,” Brann said.
In addition to employing and encouraging young farmers to think pumpkins, Brann and King also use an agricultural fraternity (Alpha Gamma Rho) to do a lot of the physical work in and around their patch.
“They come after school and help us to load the pumpkins into tractors so we can take them to Walmart and other locations,” King said. “They have been a big help over the years and continue to do so.”
Long drove a wagon full of Riner pumpkins last week to the Virginia Governor’s mansion where they will decorate the home and provide an excellent size for carving.
For now, he is knee deep in the growing business here in our area and looking to a future of bright orange pumpkins.
