By Blake Haas

MORTON – In the pumpkin capital of the world, the pumpkin crop is “surprisingly good” after a wet summer.

With Ackerman Family Farms in Morton, John Ackerman is beginning to harvest pumpkins, and he’s pleased with the fall crop after some parts of central Illinois received up to 10-inches of rain earlier this year.

“I was really worried there was so much rain early. And to be honest, pumpkins like it on the dry side. I was concerned before we started harvest, and now I’m really pleased. We’ve just had a terrific crop so far this year, and we’re pulling pumpkins out of the field every day.”

Morton is tag-lined the “pumpkin capital of the world,” Morton is where most of the world’s canned pumpkin’s come from.

“For many of the last years, many of the last decades, 85% of the world’s canned pumpkins and 95% of this country canned pumpkins have been processed and produced right here in Morton, Illinois,” Ackerman told WJBC’s, Marc Strauss.

Ackerman family farms grow over 150 different varieties of pumpkins and are located just off U.S. Route 150 in Morton.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].