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Have you been shopping for pumpkins yet this season? Let me give you fair warning. You may notice the inventory is down and the prices are up. The pumpkin shortage can be partially blamed on the pandemic. Some pumpkin patches were forced to close down thanks to COVID-19. Flooding in parts of the United States, and drought in others were additional contributing factors to a smaller crops. You'll notice pumpkin patches are charging more. Why? Well look at it this way. When a vendor has too many of an item the prices will stay low in order to move that massive inventory, and vice versa. Too few pumpkins, the vendor won't be selling as many pumpkins. So he has to keep his prices up to meet his bottom line. Your Halloween displays will likely look a little thin, plans to carve a jack-o-lantern for each member of your extended family may go right out the window, and the pies! Don't get me started. Fewer pumpkins probably means fewer pies and the prices on the pies you do see will be higher. Who would have thought there would be an economic crisis involving pumkins? Not me!