Your Jack-o'-Lantern Could Cost More This Year as Diesel Prices Squeeze Pumpkin Farmers

Pumpkin patch season is here, and the farms that grow your family's jack-o'-lanterns are paying more than ever to fuel their tractors. The national average price of diesel hit $6.53 a gallon this week. That is $2.78 more per gallon than a year ago. This is the highest weekly price of 2026, and it follows the first time in history the national average ever crossed $6 a gallon.

Why diesel costs so much right now

The war with Iran has cut the flow of oil out of the Middle East, and the world's supply is shrinking fast. Global oil stockpiles have dropped by 400 million barrels this year, and diesel is in short supply worldwide. That drives up what we pay here at home. Oil prices are expected to stay high for the next few months and won't start coming down until 2027.

Timing makes it worse. Farms need extra diesel every fall to bring in the harvest, so the price spike is landing right when farmers have to buy.

What it means for pumpkin farmers

Tractors, trucks and harvest equipment all run on diesel. In Chilton County, Alabama, pumpkin grower Penton says his farm burns through about 1,000 gallons of diesel a week during fall harvest. Diesel in Alabama now averages more than $6 a gallon, up from just over $3 a year ago. That works out to roughly $3,000 more every week just to keep his equipment running.

Farmers in other states are feeling it too. At McCray's Farm in South Hadley, Massachusetts, owner Steve McCray said diesel now costs more than everything else he pays for. In North Carolina, Trask Family Farm is still opening its corn maze and pumpkin patch, but its owner says the farm is cutting back wherever it can, even putting off mowing to save fuel.

Fuel isn't the only cost going up. Massachusetts farmer Karl Norris, who grows thousands of pumpkins a year, says he is also paying more to maintain his tractors because tariffs have made replacement parts harder to find. In southern Colorado, drought and a dry winter led to a poor growing season, and one local seller says pumpkin prices may be higher for customers this year. 

What it means for your family

Many small farms are trying not to pass these costs on to you. Norris raised his hay prices but has kept his pumpkin prices the same, because he doesn't think families have much extra money to spend this year. Other farms may not be able to hold the line. A family trip to the patch, with pumpkins, hayrides and a corn maze, could cost a little more than it did last fall.

Your local pumpkin patch is a family business working through a hard year. Visiting this fall helps keep it going.