Pumpkins aren’t the cash crop for Arkansas farmers like the big three of soybeans, rice and cotton but there’s still some determined farmers out growing the must-have porch decoration in October.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture shows that Arkansas had 87 farms growing pumpkins with a total of 363 acres. The USDA reported that 84 of those farms were for fresh harvest meaning they were for the typical pumpkin patch sales that dot church lawns and roadside stands, while three farms were for pumpkins to be processed for consumption.
Nationally, there’s 15,224 pumpkin farms with a total of 93,563 acres with agricultural powerhouse Illinois leading the way with 17,399 acres, while Pennsylvania had the most farms with 1,305 with New York close behind at 1,234.
The University of Arkansas Extension Service released a 2012 report that that covered what it called, “specialty crops” and that ranges from asparagus to watermelons with most of a grocery’s store produce section in between.
It also included pumpkins and it showed the state with 29 pumpkin farms with a total of 440 growing those speciality crops but Amanda McWhirt, the state’s fruit and vegetable specialist, noted that the report was just an estimate and added, “we [the extension service] do not track these kinds of numbers on farms or acreage and unfortunately the National Ag Stats service doesn’t track them in any great detail for Arkansas either.”
Generally speaking, McWhirt said, the state’s “acreage varies quite a bit but most of these will have between one and 10 to 15 acres.”
With the farm’s production, “will vary based on the variety grown.”
Pumpkins are rated by size and include:
- Miniature: 1 pound or less.
- Small and Pie Pumpkins: 3 to 6 pounds.
- Jack-O’-Lantern Medium: 10 to 20 pounds.
- Jack-O’-Lantern Large: 20 to 40 pounds.
- Giant: 100 pounds or more.
- Specialty Types
Pumpkins can, of course, get grow astonishingly large and the current record is by a New Hampshire farmer and his 2,528 pound pumpkin.
Almost all farms in Arkansas will grow multiple crops so the pumpkin patch might also watermelons or tomatoes or sweet potatoes, and those three crops are where Arkansas ranks nationally in terms of production.
“I do think pumpkins are a growing market in the state,” McWhirt said. “Particularly with the interest in agritourism type operations, that offer learning and entertainment opportunities. This type of enterprise can be successful and profitable.”
And the Extension Service stands ready to help. “We have worked with a few growers to help them get started,” McWhirt said. “I had a pumpkin variety trial a few years ago. But we at [the Extension Service] have not had a concerted effort to promote pumpkin production necessarily.”
READ MORE: Arkansas Farmers Await Harvest After Challenging Year
