Guests that visit the Perryville Pumpkin Farm experience more than just purchasing pumpkins, they also meet the Koenig family, who live and work on their century farm which began in 1892. Dianna Koenig is the sixth generation of her family to operate the farm, in partnership with her husband Brian, growing wheat, soybeans, and corn. Their three sons, Tyson, Jarod, and Ryan are the first generation to lead the family in building an agritourism destination. Perryville Pumpkin Farm is located near Perryville in #Agri-Ready Designated Perry County. Each fall, the entire Koenig family invites your family to explore their working farm, make memories, and create traditions that span generations.

The Decision to Diversify

Nearly 25 years ago, the Koenig family was looking for a way to add income to their family farm business. The Koenig boys chose to grow and sell pumpkins, utilizing entrepreneurial skills they were learning as 4-H members and building on successes of past family generations. “When I was growing up here on the farm we grew pumpkins on ground that would flood,” Dianna remembered. “We also grew watermelons, and we had extra eggs. Dad often sat things out in the yard to sell. We figured lots of people in the community were used to buying things out of our yard, so we would follow that idea.” 

An Opportunity through Agritourism

The family tried a variety of markets for their pumpkins, but it didn’t take Tyson, Jarod, and Ryan much time to determine that it was more fun to talk to customers in the farmhouse yard than to deliver wagon loads of pumpkins to local stores. Each fall, the Koenig boys would display their pumpkins, and the customers would come to them. In their third year, a pumpkin field along the roadside caught the eye of a local pre-school teacher and the family received their first call to host students for a field trip. The Koenig boys designed and built the first straw tunnel 20 years ago. The family added small mazes to corn and soybean fields. They kept planting more pumpkin varieties. Creative activities began cropping up across the farm. Today, the Koenig family is proud to welcome visitors to experience Missouri agriculture across 25 action-packed acres.

A Unique Focus 

The plethora of activities offered at Perryville Pumpkin Farm is now curated by Dianna, who also works as a 4-H Youth Program Associate for MU Extension in Perry County. Dianna has more than 30 years of experience in designing programing and activities for youth and families. “What is most unique about our pumpkin attraction is that our farm is still a working farm. Our family lives and works here,” Dianna shared. “I make sure each of our activities is directly related to farming and agriculture and how food is grown.” Dianna hosts daily field trips, engaging hundreds of elementary students each September and October.

Choosing to Stick with Pumpkins

Perryville Pumpkin Farm is operated by the Koenig family without additional staff, so when Jarod was heading off to college, Dianna said there would no longer be enough help to operate their agritourism destination. “But mom!” the boys said, “We’ve already built the business!” Dianna shifted the focus of their venue to education and the entire family stayed involved. Tyson manages the web page, tech for credit card purchases and the offerings in the ‘Red Barn’. Jarod designs the annual flyer, manages the farm Facebook page, and cuts the soybean and corn mazes each year. Alongside his dad, Ryan is a full-time farmer, managing his own acres of the family farm. He can often be found weeding the pumpkin patches and offering wagon rides. There is no doubt that the family is ‘all hands-on deck’, no matter the job to make sure every part of each visit resonates in a positive way.

Learning from Their Guests

The Koenig family loves to meet and get to know their visitors. As each wagon ride bumps across the farm heading out to the pumpkin patches, the Koenigs ride along, listening to the stories and interests of their guests. What they hear gives birth to ideas that influence new activities on the farm. Moreover, these shared wagon rides give the family a chance to share more about Missouri agriculture with guests that sometimes arrive from several hours away. “On average, people are already four generations removed from the farm, so there is a lot we can share with them,” Dianna said. “However, our goal is to create a space that allows families to make memories together. We see multi-generational families return to the farm together year after year.” 

Details About the Annual Pumpkin Crop

Two hundred and forty different varieties of pumpkins were grown across 14 acres on Perryville Pumpkin Farm in 2024. Two seed boxes are removed from a John Deere 7000 planter, creating two seats where members of the family ride the planter. Each person drops pumpkin seeds one at a time through a planting box to take advantage of the planter’s ability to sow and cover every seed as the implement is pulled across the fields by a tractor. “Each pumpkin variety needs different spacing so I design a map of where varieties will grow. We don’t buy as much seed or other inputs when we plant the varieties with optimal spacing and conditions,” Dianna said. 

The Koenigs plant their first pumpkin seeds during the first week of June, planning for pumpkins to be ready by Labor Day. More patches are planted near the end of June so that pumpkins are ripe and ideal for picking during October when the Perryville Pumpkin Farm offers wagon rides to and from the patch for u-pick pumpkins. For years the family had an old-fashioned terra cotta colored pumpkin that they grew from seeds saved by Dianna’s father each season. This year Dianna planted a pumpkin variety called ‘Black Bear’ that has been a hit with pumpkin pickers. “Some of our guests shop in the yard, but most visitors really enjoy choosing and plucking their own pumpkin directly from the field,” Dianna described.

Agritourism Pioneers

The Koenig family are pioneers of the agritourism movement, and the family has grown through inviting the public to their home. “Our agritourism business is definitely a part of what keeps our small family farm operating,” Dianna said. “As farmers, our livelihoods are dictated by the weather. It is true for the success of our crops, and it is also true for the success of agritourism.”

Plan to visit the Koenig family in 2025! The Perryville Pumpkin Farm boasts a full-scale farm-to-table store offering many homemade jams, jellies and apple butter as well as local honey. Beef jerky and meat sticks are available from neighboring Three Spring Farms. Check out the gift shop, where each farm themed item has been chosen by Dianna’s grandchildren.

More About the Koenig Family

The Koenig family are dedicated and active members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Perryville. Brian is the long-standing Secretary/Treasurer of the Perry County Pork Producers. He and Dianna have been active members of the Missouri Young Farmers/Young Farm Wives Association for decades. Brian currently represents District 6 on the Missouri Farm Bureau Board. Missouri Young Farmers/Young Farm Wives and Missouri Farm Bureau are partners of Missouri Farmers Care.

Agri-Ready Designated Perry County

According to the 2021 Missouri Economic Contribution of Agriculture and Forestry Study, agriculture creates $341.5 million in value-added products, supports nearly 6,000 jobs, and generates $293.0 million in household income to the economy of #Agri-Ready Designated Perry County. 

Perry County is one of more than 70 Agri-Ready Designated Counties in Missouri, all of which embrace agricultural opportunity, literacy, and economic development. The Agri-Ready County Designation program connects counties with Missouri Farmers Care to promote and protect agriculture and secure it as a thriving component in our state’s economic future. Missouri Farmers Care is a joint effort by Missouri’s farming and agriculture community to stand together for the men and women who provide the food and jobs on which our communities depend.