PUEBLO — Farmers are hoping and praying the coming cold temperatures do not take out their Pueblo chiles and other crops.
Musso Farms is optimistic, saying Colorado weather is nothing new to them. Even though the expected cold front is abnormal, they do not believe it will impact their chile season. "Looking at the forecast I noticed that it's going to be cloudy and rainy. That's a good thing, and that's not going to bring in a huge, hard freeze. So, I think we're going to be okay," said Rocky Musso, a fifth generation farmer.
Musso also said anything could happen, but they are still gearing up for a huge chile month. "There's really nothing that you can do. They're all exposed to the elements, so we just sit there and hold on tight and see what happens... I know we're going to have enough chile to supply everybody," said Musso.
State Senate President Leroy Garcia comes to work at Musso Farms as a volunteer during the busy seasons. "From time to time, people are wrong about Colorado weather. So, we're very hopeful and optimistic that we'll get through this, and that it won't impact significantly the chile season... We get a lot of tourism dollars as a result of a lot of people coming to Pueblo, specifically for Pueblo chile," said Garcia.
Musso Farms was packed on Monday, but those with the farm said they are typically this busy on a holiday weekend. "We wanted to get out here before it got cold, and hopefully the chiles won't get bad," said Kirsti Giordano, a Pueblo resident who came to shop.
News5 also talked to Mauro Farms, which said they are praying for protection of their crop.
Meanwhile, Milberger Farms said they are tired of people asking what they would do if they lost everything overnight. They compared it to asking someone what they would do if they knew their mother could die the next day. Still, they said they will make it through this.
