A spring freeze and two major hailstorms have taken a toll on Colorado’s acclaimed Rocky Ford cantaloupes, leaving farmers uncertain over how big their crops will be this year.
Grower Michael Hirakata said he has lost an estimated 60 acres of the 360 acres of cantaloupes that he planted this spring.
Hirakata said farmers are hopeful that good yields in their surviving crop will offset some of the weather damage. The harvest is expected to start next week and continue into September.
Arkansas Valley growers banded together in 2011 to trademark the Rocky Ford cantaloupe name and define its boundaries after melons from Jensen Farms in Holly, 90 miles east of Rocky Ford, were implicated in a listeria outbreak that killed at least 32 people.
Over the past decade, Colorado growers have planted an annual average of 2,000 acres of cantaloupes and reaped harvests valued at $7 million a year.
