Rocky Ford produce farmers feeling financial pain

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Rocky Ford farmers say cantaloupes aren’t the only crop that suffered a hit from a multistate listeria outbreak that has killed at least four people.

Colorado health officials say lab tests have linked the outbreak to a single farm in Holly that sold melons labeled as Rocky Ford cantaloupes. Jensen Farms has recalled its cantaloupes and farm owners have hired a food safety expert to determine how the problem occurred and how to fix it.

Farmers in the real town of Rocky Ford, about 90 miles away, say other crops took a hit too. Produce markets say some customers have been wary of any Rocky Ford produce, not just cantaloupes, including yellow and orange squash, tomatoes and watermelons.