From Fields to Feasts: Illinois’ Mastery in Pumpkin Production

Much of the canned pumpkin that ends up in Thanksgiving pies and soups came from Central Illinois.

Pumpkins, a type of winter squash native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, are among the oldest domesticated plants. Archaeological evidence indicates that several different speciesA species is a group of living organisms that share a set of common characteristics and are able to breed and produce fertile offspring. The concept of a species is important in biology as it is used to classify and organize the diversity of life. There are different ways to define a species, but the most widely accepted one is the biological species concept, which defines a species as a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce viable offspring in nature. This definition is widely used in evolutionary biology and ecology to identify and classify living organisms.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>species of pumpkins were independently domesticated between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago in different parts of North, Central, and South America.

Transformation From Wild Gourds to Modern Pumpkins

Modern-day pumpkins are quite a bit different than their wild forerunners, which were small, bitter, gourd-like, and mainly eaten by mammoths and mastodons. As humans started to sample and replant the best-tasting of them, modern pumpkins have come to be considerably larger, sweeter, and more palatable.

Pumpkin Cultivation Across the United States

All fifty U.S. states now raise pumpkins, but Illinois consistently stands out for the total acreage and weight of its harvest. Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) captured this natural-color image of farmland around Peoria, Illinois—a major hub of pumpkin growing and processing—on October 22, 2022. The soils and climate in this part of central Illinois are ideal for growing pumpkins, and many of the fields surrounding Peoria are used for growing a certain type of canning pumpkin. While the fields were lush and green in September, this image was taken after the harvest, leaving most fields brown.

Illinois: The Leading Pumpkin Producer

With 652 million pounds (296 million kilograms) harvested in 2021, Illinois was the top pumpkin-producing state that year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. That amounted to more than a quarter of total U.S. pumpkin production, and more than the next top-five states combined. Unlike other pumpkin-producing states that grow lots of carving and ornamental pumpkins, including Indiana and California, most of the pumpkins grown in Illinois are used for canning and cooking.

Pumpkin Processing in Morton and Princeville

The nearby towns of Morton and Princeville also play a role in the region’s pumpkin production. These towns host two of the largest pumpkin processing facilities in the state. Pumpkins are washed, peeled, heated, puréed, and canned in these facilities. Their presence helps explain why Illinois produces more than 90 percent of the processed pumpkins—a common ingredient in Thanksgiving pumpkin pies—sold in the United States.

NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion." NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.