Hirakata Farms looking at more varietals and organics in 2016
Hirakata Farms looking at more varietals and organics in 2016
Hirakata Farms, located in the Rocky Ford region of Colorado’s Arkansas Valley, is going into the 2016 season with plans to ramp up overall production of honeydew melons as well as more conventional varietals and a limited amount of organics, according to Gene Schneider, sales representative for the company.
Schneider told The Produce News that the longtime melon producer had a good season overall in 2015, although weather events caused a compression, and product came off “all at once.”
“We had to replant, which made some items come in three weeks late,” Schneider said. But nonetheless, tonnage and sales were both good, he said.
“This year our goals are allocating acreage to the crops of cantaloupe, varietal melons, watermelons and pumpkins,” he said. “We’re going more into honeydews, which we doubled last year. We’ll have even more this year.”
In the varietals, which Schneider said marketed well, Hirakata Farms will have orange flesh, Juan Canary, Santa Claus, Crenshaw and Galia, all seeded.
In the watermelon category, he said additional acreage will be going to minis and yellows, which are all seedless.
Last year, he said, consumer response was quite good, and Schneider noted that 90-95 percent of Hirakata cantaloupes remain in Colorado. With watermelon, between 75-80 percent stays in-state, and with honeydew it’s 90 percent an in-state sale.
“We’re looking at going more regional this year,” Schneider said, expanding sales into New Mexico, Texas, Arizona and Utah.
“We’ll also dabble in organics, mostly in cantaloupes,” he said. “We will have some watermelons and maybe a few honeydew. Right now the organic acreage is limited, but we want to expand it every year.”
At the shed, Schneider said Hirakata Farms is putting in a new watermelon storage facility to “be more efficient on-site.”
And regarding the issues of irrigation and transportation, Schneider said early season reports are that water will be adequate and transportation also good.
