For all of us that live in Arkansas, we know this state is hands down awesome. It's beautiful, full of things to do, and don't get us started on the great food. Unfortunately, it seems like Arkansas has been making headlines as one of the “worst states” for this or that. But, hey, we’re not focusing on that. Instead, let’s get Arkansas in the headlines for all those things we’re the best at. In our Best of Arkansas series, we’re highlighting just a few of the things that are putting Arkansas in the spotlight for the right reasons. Today, we’re talking about Arkansas’ edamame.
Edamame. Ever heard of it? It’s not pronounced ed-a-mah-me or “ed's mommy”. It’s ed-uh-ma-may. It's a premature soybean that’s bigger, greener, sweeter and nuttier in flavor than a conventional soybean. It's a specialty crop that's putting Arkansas on the map as the “edamame capital of the U.S.”
Arkansas is the 10th largest soybean producer in the US, which makes it a perfect place to harvest edamame. In fact, one of the U.S.’s largest edamame processing plants is in the town of Mulberry, Arkansas (American Vegetable Soybean and Edamame Inc.). The plant hires local farmers to grow the unique product. One of those farmers is Joe Thrash in Perry County.
Thrash has been on his farm since he was seven years old. Now, he’s in his 32nd crop. His farm produces everything from rice to soybeans, wheat, corn, livestock and of course, edamame.
He said the Arkansas River valley is mainly where the edamame is focused.
“Out here, were isolated from the delta and we haven't had any problems with chemical drift,” he said. “I think they [the Mulberry plant] picked this area of the state for those reasons.”
Thrash is one of an estimated 20 farmers growing edamame for the Mulberry plant.
“The edamame is adding quite a bit of economic value for us here on the farm because it's a commodity that we don't have to harvest and we don’t have to buy the seed,” he said. “The plant supplies that for us.”
When edamame first came to Arkansas nearly ten years ago, Thrash didn’t see it as much of a goldmine. Conventional soybean prices were higher and the edamame yielded about the same profits but required more work. They have a short growing season that encompasses a 60- to 70-day period and they have to be harvested about two months ahead of Thrash’s conventional soybeans. Plus, the aesthetics are a big factor in their money making capability
“They want those beans in a pod and they want that pod to look nice and green and not have any blemishes,” said Thrash.
Eventually, edamame started growing more popular and conventional soybeans became less profitable. So, Thrash wanted back in. Now, nearly seven years later, he is still in the game and growing more involved. Now, he has about 100 acres of edamame growing each year. He said he never imagined he’d have that much edamame growing on his farm.
“I didn’t really even know what edamame was ten years ago; I just thought it was the green thing by the salad bar,” he said. “But now, we really enjoy growing them.”
Thrash said the processing plant in Mulberry is asking him to grow more as the demand grows.
“It’s this health food craze now where everyone wants to eat more healthy,” he said. “You can find edamame on salad bars and people are making dips out of them and humus out of them, so it’s more popular to the public with a little more demand.”
As the demand grows, Thrash says he’ll continue to grow with it. He sees the potential for Arkansas' edamame empire.
“It could grow to a tremendous size as long as the demand stays there for the product,” he said.
Thrash said that right now only 10 percent of edamame is exported by the U.S. so there is a lot of opportunities for production to increase on U.S. soil.