Where do those perfectly plump Northwest pumpkins grow? A farm in Eastern WA
Every fall, Robert Cox and his family get a thrill when a family friend spies one of their pumpkins for sale at a Walmart in Alaska.
It’s a long way from the 650-acre Eastern Washington farm spot where Cox, his daughter Ashley and several sons grow alfalfa, wheat and tens of thousands of carving pumpkins.
Walmart is their primary customer for pumpkins, along with Yoke’s Fresh Market, pumpkin patches that need to boost their own numbers and the occasional farmer who suffers a crop failure.
The harvest began in late September and is in full swing at Robert S. Cox Farms in Benton City.
By the time the harvest is over, Cox Farms pumpkins will have traveled to stores across the Northwest, chiefly via the Walmart distribution system.
Cox Farms sends pumpkins to Walmart’s Grandview distribution hub. From there, they’re hauled to stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and even Alaska.
It’s a fun family tradition when their family friend reports spotting the familiar “Robert Cox Farms Benton City” label.
“They always make it to Alaska,” Ashley said.
Pumpkins can be a challenging crop, both joyful and brief..
“Halloween is kind of a fun time for kids. I just hope Christmas doesn’t get in the way of Halloween,” Cox said.
Badger Canyon tradition
Cox started the farm in Badger Canyon in 1965 and switched watermelons for pumpkins in 1995.
This year, he planted about 215 acres, down from the usual 250. The cutback better aligns with demand.
The 2024 season started slow, but Walmart sales picked up as Halloween nears.
Washington is best known for its apples, cherries, potatoes, hops and dairy products.
Still, fresh pumpkins were worth nearly $16 million to the state in 2023, which ranks sixth in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistics arm.
The Coxes specialize in orange carving pumpkins, forgoing the popular modern varieties such as white “ghost” pumpkins.
Their pumpkins are destined to become front porch decor, but they are perfectly edible.
Ashley Cox said she likes to make pies with the family pumpkins. Friends use them in baked goods.
Their farm is not a pumpkin patch and is not set up for people who want to pick their own from a field rather than out of a bin outside a grocery store, she said.
The operation is crisscrossed by tractors, forklifts and semi trucks.
Pumpkin labor of love
The pumpkin business starts in March, when fields are plowed. That’s followed by planting. Ashley Cox harvests some of the farm’s own seeds to reuse. The rest come from commercial vendors.
Cox estimates seeds cost $80,000. And that’s just one expense. The cardboard shipping bins are another. The bins cost $15 each and travel in one direction only, from farm to final destination.
“We don’t get those back,” Robert said.
Labor is another significant cost.
The Coxes hire workers through a labor contractor to bring in the harvest. But Washington’s mandatory overtime rules now apply to agriculture. Ashley said the farm halts harvest operations to avoid overtime costs, putting a chill on operations.
The cost of labor “is just about killing me,” Robert said.
At 69, he flirts with retiring, but said he loves the work and can’t imagine doing something else.
“If it was easy, just about everybody would do it,” he said.
Ashley, who hopes to take over the family business if or when her dad retires, called it a labor of love.
“We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t enjoy it.”
Orange leftovers
At the height of pumpkin harvest, semi trucks rotate in an out of the Cox processing area to pick up bins of pumpkins, which ship on pallets.
By the time the season wraps up, the family will have shipped about 125 semis worth of pumpkins.
Only the best make it onto trucks.
Ashley explained that Walmart is particular about buying pumpkins shoppers will want to buy. The retailer demands round, unblemished pumpkins about the size of a basketball.
Pumpkins that fail the test are left in the field.
The Coxes donate surplus to schools, churches and nursing homes. Some are crushed. Some are used for seed.
They tried selling them to processors who used them to make pumpkin spice, but it wasn’t cost effective.
They might be ground up. They also turn cattle loose on the pumpkin fields after harvest.
They regularly bring the surplus to the processing area, where people haul them off in pick up trucks for animal feed. Cattle, horses, chickens, pigs and even deer happily eat the orange gourds.
Pumpkin payoff
Robert Cox said for all the challenges of farming, he is still moved to see children excited about Halloween.
He recalled overhearing a child at a Walmart amazed to encounter an actual pumpkin rather than a plastic one.
“They’re real pumpkins, Mom!” the child exclaimed.
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