A 1.5-acre pick-your-own (PYO) pumpkin venture has been a profitable diversification for a new entrant farming business, a Farming Connect trial has shown.
Laura Pollock and Matt Brooks farm 114-acre Lower House Farm beneath the Wentwood Hills at Llanfair Discoed, Monmouthshire, where the principal enterprises are calf rearing and lamb production. The couple have diversified into PYO pumpkins, in 2024 growing around 2,500, and are now in their second year of partnering with Farming Connect on trials around horticulture production. This year they will be expanding the PYO with sunflower production.
The pumpkin trial compared different methods of propagation, trialling a range of varieties, including squash, and also considered the value of additional revenue-generating tourism elements for the PYO open days, including catering facilities. A stand-out finding from the trial was how profitable this form of diversification can be. Laura and Matt captured £17,330 in profit from their pumpkin and additional visitor experiences.
Establishing the pumpkins was done with both seeds and plug plants. While the seed was far cheaper than buying young pumpkin plants, the plugs provided more reliable establishment, particularly in the first few months. Plugs were more resilient in dry periods too and were less affected by the weather and weeds than establishment from seed.
Hannah Norman, Horticulture Sector Officer at Farming Connect, said weeds were the main issue during the trial, particularly thistles which quickly out-competed some of the smaller direct-drilled plants. This was a factor in the decision to harvest the pumpkins from the field before the business opened to the public as the thistles made access difficult. The ground was also very wet and some of the pumpkins had started to rot – losses were in the region of 200. The harvested pumpkins were reintroduced into the field after it had been topped, a time consuming and labour-intensive process.
Laura and Matt opened the farm to the public for 12 days over the course of three weeks from 12 October, taking bookings for dedicated timeslots via an online system at an entry fee of £9/car. Catering generated income from food purchases. The venture was so successful financially that they are making it a fixed part of their overall business model going forward.
Lessons learned included possibly hiring in machinery or a contractor to establish the crop as doing this by hand proved time-consuming. It was also concluded that a sprinkler system would be better suited to the acreage than relying on a hosepipe for irrigation.
This year, the pumpkins will be planted in blocks of varieties with paths included to accommodate visitors and tractor access, to make managing the field easier. Plants will be established in a stale seed bed to reduce weed burden. Hannah says most of the varieties in the trial had grown well and the diverse offering was popular with visitors. “The more unusual and interesting varieties were most popular,’’ she said.
Charging per car and separately for the pumpkins gave visitors options depending on affordability, she added. “Charging per car guaranteed income for Laura and Matt, and for visitors there was no pressure to buy pumpkins once they were on the farm. “There were plenty of free activities and photo opportunities for visitors and the added value of the catering brought in additional income.’’
As the 2025 growing season gets underway, Lower House Farm is working with Farming Connect to explore another diversification venture with an area of the farm dedicated to sunflower production to extend the PYO season and to offer the option for cut flower sales. The trial will explore the suitability of different varieties and consider whether sunflowers generate a positive return on investment to establish the venture as an annual event.
