There's a national shortage of canned pumpkin and pie filling, a result of poor weather that reduced the supply of last year's crop. Shoppers report finding bare shelves, and the supermarkets say they have been put on an 'allocation,' or quota, system by Libby's, a division of food giant Nestle that controls more than 80 percent of the canned pumpkin market. Libby's typically uses surpluses from the prior year to stock store shelves during September and October, when the annual pumpkin harvest gets under way. Wet conditions during last year's growing season left canners without a surplus this year, said Roz O'Hearn, a Libby's spokeswoman. But this year's crop is on its way. 'We began shipping Libby's 100 Percent Pure Pumpkin (filling) in late September, so it should be on grocer's shelves soon,' she said. Shoppers could find the filling a bit more expensive this year. Libby's has a suggested retail price of $1.59 for its 15-ounce can and a suggested price of $2.59 for its 29 ounce cans of pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix. O'Hearn said the prices represent a 'small increase' over last year due to higher expenses for the steel the goes into the cans and higher grower costs. She did not provide a percentage increase. (Optional add end) Libby's uses what it calls the Select Dickinson pumpkin. It is smaller, squatter, meatier, heavier and sweeter than the typical Halloween pumpkin. The food processor likes the creamy texture of the pumpkin because it lends itself to cooking. Supermarkets say they expect to have enough of the canned filling in stock to supply shoppers by the time Thanksgiving approaches. 'We're not out today, just low,' said Albertsons' spokeswoman Stephanie Martin. 'We'll be fully stocked for the holidays, which is the high-volume selling period for this product. We have been prepared for this shortage so we will have the product our customer wants, when they want it, so they can put that pumpkin pie on the table.' 