GALATIA (WSIL) -- The weather doesn't discriminate, deep cold will impact most of our region overnight.
We've already shown you how orchards are impacted by freezing temperatures and how to protect plants at your home. But what about local farmers who have crops in the ground?
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"There's gonna be some cosmetical damage probably that we're gonna see on that, meaning some leaf burn."
Randy Anderson is hopeful that his Saline County wheat crop will remain mostly unnafected by the subfreezing temperatures forecast for early Thursday morning.
"Most of the part of the wheat that's down in the canopy of itself is gonna get some of the warmth from the ground."
Still in its early stages, the heart of the plant is close to the ground and sheltered by a leafy canopy. This means a few hours of temperatures in the upper 20s would be manageable.
"It's not as susceptible as if the crop was say another two to three weeks along.
In his years as a farmer, Anderson has come to expect these close calls early in the season.
"Do we like it? No. Is there anything we can do about it? No, but we're just hoping that we don't dip down into the mid 20's."
A dip that cold would risk freezing the entire plant, something that would be more consequential..
"The wheat would have to start all over again, and there would be a reduction in yield, and that's just not what we want to see."
He's hoping that won't happen, and that we'll see a pickup in rainfall to boost this year's crop.
"You know it kind of concerns me a little bit that we've missed some of the rains that's been predicted and so hopefully, you know, we can have a good planting season, and as long as we all get some good summer rains, that we'll have a good crop."
Anderson says this winter wheat was planted last October and has already sustained its fair share of cold, and it's now at the stage of life where it's becoming more and more sensitive. That's what makes tonight's temperature drop such a threat to its yield.
