EASTER FREEZE

Frigid temperatures over Easter weekend left local producers concerned for the ripening fruit in their fields. Temperatures plummeted over the weekend reaching the freezing point or below Saturday and Sunday nights. Fortunately, Tim and Bonita Myers of The Strawberry Patch and Dick Byne of Byne Blueberries were able to use special frost protection measures to save their crops from any enduring damage. Pecan, corn and small grains producers may not have fared so well, according to Burke County Extension Coordinator Will Duffie. He said much of the young corn crop was burned by the frost, and it will take several days to see the extent of the damage to the nearly mature wheat and pecan crops.