Produce shipments for new crops of fresh fruits and vegetables have started, or will soon get underway in Colorado. Depending on the crop, loading opportunities will be better on some items than others.
Sweet corn loadings are later than usual, but have are just now getting underway near Delta, CO (the Olathe area). Loadings will continue through mid- September. The corn includes bi-colored, white and yellow varieties.
Also on Colorado’s Western Slope are peaches, but shipments will be considerable less due to early freezes. Shipments are expected to be down 40 percent this season when it gets started about August 1st. Loadings will continue through September.
The primary produce items grown in Northern Colorado are onions, cabbage, carrots, corn and leaf items, although “a smattering of other vegetables are available,” Schneider said. “Due to replanting, the growers should have good volume when it hits, but it will come on in a shorter ‘season’ as opposed to staggered through the course of the summer
Rocky Ford cantaloupe loadings should be up 20 to 30 percent over 2012 from the Lower Arkansas Valley, where cantaloupe and other melons are grown and shipped. Shipments should start about July 25th for cantaloupe, August 1st for honeydew and watermelon, with volume loading available within a week of those dates. Honeydews and watermelon shipments should continue through the first week of September, and cantaloupe lasting until first freeze, around October. 1st.