They said the exact same thing last year. There was no shortage!

All of my stores are chock a block full of canned pumpkin. No limits on purchase.

I put my pumpkin or squash into the oven for 45 minutes; whole, uncut. After 45 minutes, they are much easier to cut in half. Then the outside is a little soft, but the inside is still hard. After they are cut in half, I scoop out the seeds and stuff, then put the halves back into the oven in a glass cake pan or such with the cut side down. Add a little water to keep it from sticking to the pan and bake at least another 45 minutes. Then you can scoop the cooked pumpkin from the peel quite easily.

I take what I scooped out of the pumpkin and put it into the blender with a cup or so of water. Blend well and add this to bread dough. If I'm not making bread right now, it goes into the freezer until I want it. I blend up everything I scoop out of the pumpkin. Seeds and all the stuff that comes with them! It's all good food. I tried using the peel once, but didn't like the flavor. Maybe I had too much of it in a small amount of other ingredients. I am going to try that again.

Did similar to your way. Talked about this with DH and he said it sounded good. He's been hungry for pumpkin bread a lot lately.

The pumpkins I cooked were way too big for a pie plate. Half of one would maybe fit in a large turkey roasting pan and you would have to move the oven rack down as far as it would go.

If this is the case on pumpkins this year what you might want to do is substitute sweet potatoes for pumpkin and/or butternut squash. Not as messy either.

I have heard this for the last however many years. It wasn't ever true. I did hear it on the news station here.
In the stores it was plentiful. I don't always buy Libby's Pumpkin, all taste the same to me.

Years ago my husband worked for a local canning company. the canned variety is Festal brand. The pumpkins were large and thin skinned. went through the plant and they also used the skin. my local HyVee store handles the festal brand and I just love the brand.
when doing my own I bake it and then freeze it.

I do know the decorator pumpkins are not good to eat and we have lots of those for sale here. The food manufactures don't use those. The Pumpkin Patch here grows pumpkins for decorations not for food. The owner said don't eat these, they don't taste good. Maybe most people think pumpkins tastes like the pumpkins sold as Jack o Lantern pumpkins?

No lack of pumpkins in BC Canada. They were ripening in August.