Arkansas watermelon farmers gathered at the state Capitol Wednesday to showcase a crop that’s steeped in sweet summer nostalgia in The Natural State. The event was held on the front lawn of the Capitol building, where three farmers from Cave City distributed their watermelon for free to all the attendees.
State Rep. Bart Schulz (R-Cave City) helped organize the event.
The Cave City Watermelon Growers Association sponsored the gathering, Schulz said.
The goal: Simply to treat people with free samples of Cave City’s most famous produce.
“This is kind of a niche thing,” Schulz said. “My family never grew melons, but I grew up around families who did. I’m just really proud of what they do and I want to help them market these traditions.”
Arkansas ranks 14th in the U.S. for watermelon production, according to 2003 data from the National Integrated Pest Management database. The Arkansas House of Representatives reported that at least 200 farms harvest over 1,500 acres of watermelon.
Crops are valued at more than $5 million, the 2021 House watermelon report said.
Watermelons have long been part of Arkansas’s agricultural fabric.
Brian Carter, a watermelon farmer from Cave City who attended the Capitol event, said his family has been growing the fruit for four generations. His family is a long-time participant in the Cave City Watermelon Festival, held annually at the end of July.
Started in 1980, the Cave City Watermelon Festival has grown to be a centerpiece of the community. In addition to melons, there are musicians, food vendors, speed eating competitions and a parade.
“There is something about that area [Cave City] that the soil is different than anywhere in the country,” Carter said. “There is just something about the soil that grows really good watermelons. There is about a 10-mile radius that will grow the same kind of melons.”
Attendees seemed to think highly of Carter and the other growers’ sweet melons.
Ronald Neumann and his spouse Eileen Neumann, on vacation from Arlington, Virginia, told the Arkansas Times that they were visiting family around Hot Springs and wanted to visit the state Capitol. It was a coincidence they showed up on the day Schulz invited the watermelon growers.
The Neumanns said they were sure it was some of the best watermelon they have ever had.
“It’s excellent,” Ronald Neumann said. “And very moist and sweet.”