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Pumpkins Available For Halloween, Maybe Not Thanksgiving

flickr user Kam Abbott / "Pumpkin Patch 100_9300" (CC BY 2.0) http://bit.ly/1WLnMvW

Crop experts say there should be enough pumpkins for Halloween, but that supplies of canned pumpkin could be scarce by Thanksgiving. 

Illinois is the country's top pumpkin-producing state.

Mohammad Babadoost is a plant pathology professor at the University of Illinois. He says "we'll have a pumpkin for everybody'' for Halloween, but cautions that canned pumpkin could run low by Nov. 26's Thanksgiving holiday.

Babadoost says he'd "buy it whenever it comes to the store.'' 

The large canned pumpkin manufacturer Libby says yields in Illinois appear to be less than anticipated this year. Farmers are blaming record rainfall in June for washing out crops. 

Jane Moran owns Moran Orchard in Neoga. She says they replanted and it rained more so they're buying pumpkins at auction twice a week.  

Meanwhile, Illinois Department of Agriculture says corn and soybean harvests are about half complete. The state is forecast to be the country's No. 1 soybean producer this year and No. 2 corn producer behind Iowa. 

The state report indicates more than half of the corn harvested so far is in good to excellent condition. Sixty percent of the soybean crop is considered either good or excellent.

The National Weather Service expects mostly dry, harvest-friendly weather across the state over the next week.