One of the UK’s leading wholesale suppliers of organic Halloween pumpkins, based in Salisbury, has stopped taking orders for Halloween this year.

When Lyburn farm in Landford told its customers it was shutting its books for wholesale pumpkin orders, this lead many to speculate whether this was as a combined result of the impact of Brexit on supply chains and the dull, chilly weather.

Although the weather had some impact on the semi-tropical fruits, with pumpkins smaller on the whole this year, the demand is the issue rather than supply according to Lyburn farm’s Jono Smales.

Salisbury Journal: Lyburn farmLyburn farm

The organic farmer said: “Last year there was a shortage of pumpkins, so some of [the vendors] placed their orders before Christmas!”

“Now you get people right around the corner asking for pumpkins just before Halloween and we’re all booked up.”

In October 2020 many people visited outdoor pumpkin events and bought pumpkins to carve at home due to the pandemic decreasing the activities available, which some say lead to the shortage that year.

The impact of Brexit and the pandemic

Brexit has exacerbated labour shortages as free movement between the UK and the mainland has ceased and work visas are now required, most UK farm workers being EU citizens according to the National Farmers Union.  

This was a trend that had started before the pandemic, but was accelerated after, with 364,000 fewer EU nationals working in the UK in late 2020 compared to a year earlier according to Office for National Statistics estimates.

There has been a shortage in heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers across Europe too, who transport these goods, with the UK hardest hit as EU drivers decide to work elsewhere.

However, Jono Smales says that they have been lucky during Covid, and through Brexit, with a strong team of workers from Romania able to do the picking.

“Some crops are really difficult to manage... pumpkins are ok, some are already orange now, so we’ll go pick them as and when we need them”

“We look forward to the pumpkin harvest as it is the last one of the season, and I guess it’s also the last harvest before we break for the winter.”

“It’s difficult work... but we managed to do ok. It’s taken us a few years to get to where we are now as a supplier.”

The Smales family have worked the 90-acre Lyburn Farm for almost fifty years, with Jono deciding to follow in his parents Mike and Judy’s footsteps when he was 16, enrolling into agricultural college.  

Hundreds of shops around the UK now stock their produce, which includes an array of organic vegetables as well as their farmhouse cheeses.  

Get more Salisbury news

You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date.

If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.

Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.