High costs haunt Canadian ornamental pumpkin farm

The second-generation southwestern Ontario farmers have carved out a niche in ornamental pumpkins, gourds and corn, seasonal crops that decorate tables on Thanksgiving and porches on Halloween.

But the cost of getting a mini orange pumpkin or tiny green gourd from their farm in St. Thomas to stores across Canada and the United States ahead of the autumn holidays has surged.

“We’re not impacted by tariffs but the trade issues are still ratcheting up costs for us across the board,” said Patrick Butters, who owns and operates the roughly 2,200-hectare farm with his brother Christopher.

“We’ve been seeing incremental increases all season long.”

Butters Farms offers a window into how trade tensions and geopolitical issues can ripple through the economy.

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Higher freight, packaging and diesel costs are putting added pressure on farmers’ thin margins, while limited room to raise prices means producers are often left absorbing some of the increase.

In addition to ornamental crops and pie pumpkins for eating, Butters Farms grows soybeans, wheat, butternut squash and sweet and field corn, which account for about 90 per cent of the farm’s acreage.

Ornamental crops — including decorative corn, star-shaped Crown of Thorns gourds and white, tennis ball-sized Baby Boo pumpkins — account for just 10 per cent of the farm’s acreage but generate about half its revenue.

Yet those sales depend on getting the seasonal produce from the family farm near Lake Erie to major grocery retailers across Canada and as far south as Texas.

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“Our average trucking rate is up 30 per cent from last year,” Patrick Butters said.

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He said his cardboard packaging costs have risen about 20 per cent after three price increases since the spring. Fertilizer, labour costs and other general farm inputs are also soaring, he added.

“At some point, it just becomes too expensive,” he said. “Somebody is not going to pay for that pumpkin if the price climbs too high.”

Butters Farms isn’t alone in grappling with higher costs.

Farmers across Canada are facing similar pressures, including higher energy, steel and aluminum prices, said Keith Currie, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

“The cost of machinery has skyrocketed and along with that the cost of parts and fixing our equipment,” he said. “It’s also becoming very expensive just to operate machinery. The cost of diesel has gone through the roof.”

Currie, who grows crops like corn, soybeans and wheat on his farm outside of Collingwood, Ont., said the cost of operating a combine during harvest season has ballooned.

“It’s $2,500 to fill my combine, so if I’m going through a tank of fuel a day or every couple of days it starts getting expensive,” he said.

Even basic maintenance is pricey, Currie said.

The eighth-generation farmer said the cost of changing the hydraulic oil and filters in two tractors last weekend totalled nearly $2,000, a job that would have cost about $500 five years ago.

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“That’s not anything special, that’s not a repair,” he said. “That’s just regular maintenance.”

The mounting costs come as farmers have little control over the prices they ultimately receive for their crops.

“Farmers are in a pinch this fall as they’re trying to harvest their crops,” said Brendan Gill, a relationship manager with TD Agriculture Services. “They’re at the mercy of the market.”

With diesel, fertilizer and commodity prices out of their hands, he said farmers are instead focusing on variables they can control: pre-buying inputs, locking in future crop prices through contracts, selectively diversifying crops and closely managing their balance sheets.

“It’s just taking back some control,” Gill said. “That’s how some of these farmers are combating this uncertainty.”

That uncertainty continues to loom over the Butters brothers as they plan their next season.

“As of today, I am not paying a tariff to have our product cross the border but that could change tomorrow with the political landscape, so it’s just an added level of unknown that we’re not used to,” Patrick Butters said.

“You’re buying your seed in the winter and planting your crop in the spring and spending money all along the way to keep it disease- and insect-free with the hope that these relationships we’ve developed with our customer base for decades can continue.”

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He added: “You’re gambling every day.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2026.