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Fay ners enjoy bountiful crop of sweet cantaloupes, veggies <br />Gary Shane Farms of La Junta has been picking cantaloupe since July 25. <br />http://www.chieftain.com/print.php3?story--8 <br />"We pick and pack and ship every day, seven days a week," Shane said. "We'll go through Sept. 20." <br />Shane's business ships about 5,000 40 -pound boxes of cantaloupe a day, mainly to the Midwest. <br />He said this is "a fairly good year" for melons. <br />"The first few fields had some hail and wind damage, but they have been good since. <br />"Rocky Ford cantaloupe is the only thing that keeps us in business," he said. "We can't compete against <br />the big names like Dole in California. We have a couple fields of onions, but everything is geared toward <br />cantaloupe." <br />It is more than the name that sells the melons, Shane said. <br />"They've been grown out here for at least 100 years. They have a history of being the sweetest <br />cantaloupes in the United States." <br />Bartolo said it's a good year for other crops as well. <br />"All the produce items seem to be a little later because of the cool spring we had, but the tomatoes, <br />peppers and onions are looking really good. Hopefully, we'll have a good season for the next six weeks <br />or so." <br />The first week of October is when the first killing frost usually occurs in the Rocky Ford area, Bartolo <br />said. <br />He estimated 200 acres are devoted to tomatoes, most of that acreage east of Pueblo, in the Rocky Ford <br />area and some of it in Prowers County. <br />Approximately 1,000 acres of peppers are being grown, including chilies, and about 3,500 acres of <br />onions. <br />Why onions? <br />"It's historically been a good area for them. Hot and dry conditions and adequate irrigation water are <br />what they need." <br />Bartolo said Arkansas Valley farmers are "pretty happy" so far this season. <br />"Fresh- market produce growers have been doing fairly well the past few years; it's the grain and alfalfa <br />farmers who have been under the gun. <br />"There's a good demand for fresh produce. People want to eat more fresh vegetables and they want to eat <br />locally grown produce. There's a large market for it. <br />"Produce is a higher market but a higher risk," he added. "It's labor - intensive. It's not the solution for <br />everybody. It's a very specialized area." <br />Shane said if a farmer stays on top of things and suffers a bad year, he should be able to recoup with a <br />2 of 3 8/21/01 1:26 PM <br />