Carolina farmers scramble in late-season cold snap

RALEIGH, N.C. — Temperatures dropped across the Carolinas in a late-season cold snap that had farmers scrambling to protect their budding harvests with hopes of preventing a similar April chill that caused millions of dollars in crop damage.

State officials and farmers said their crops, including apple and peach orchards just beginning to blossom, appear unharmed Wednesday but they wouldn't know for sure for several days.

"The weather's a funny thing," said Mildred Lyda, who grows 20 varieties of apples on her family-run farm in Hendersonville. "It's just a wait-and-see thing. With apples, they tell us to go out and protect them with blankets. What most of us do is pray."

In South Carolina, temperatures dipped to 29 degrees in some areas but lasted only an hour or two early Wednesday. North Carolina, which suffered nearly $112 million in crop damage in 2007, saw temperatures hover around freezing.

But it looks like 2009 will not be a repeat of 2007, said Brian Long, spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Farmers reported no immediate damage, but a statewide assessment will be made in 24 hours.

"It's hard to say," Long said. "It looks like last night's cold snap was going to be a single night occurrence, and that's good. From what I've heard, people are being cautiously optimistic."

Apples and peaches, which are most at risk because of their blooming schedule in the next few weeks in both states, could take several days for their cores to blacken if affected. Blueberries also are in season.

Farmers in western North Carolina, which experienced temperatures in the low 30s and high 20s, seemed to survive the frigid weather with little damage.

Jim Land, who runs J & A Orchard near Taylorsville, said his 10-acre apple farm is blooming and he's preparing them for regular cover spray. The fruit will be ready for picking by July. Land said severely damaged apples will usually begin to brown and turn mushy within a few days, but that hasn't happened.

"Everything's intact," he said, noting that temperatures fell to 29 degrees early Wednesday. "We survived this one."

In North Carolina, apples accounted for only $5.6. million in farm revenue in 2007, a drop from $24 million in 2006. Peaches, which totaled $5.1 million in 2006, dropped to $700,000 in 2007. South Carolina's $40 million peach industry suffered $28 million in losses in 2007, according to the South Carolina Peach Council.

Numbers are not yet available for 2008.

National Weather Service forecasters said temperatures were expected to rise and reach the 70s on Friday. Meteorologist Russell Henes said the coldest weather likely came Wednesday morning, far from North Carolina's four-day cold snap that brought temperatures in the teens in April 2007.

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Associated Press Writer Katrina Goggins in Columbia, S.C. contributed to this report.

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MONTROSE, Colo. (AP) _ A western Colorado dairy has been ordered to stop distributing raw milk after 11 people got sick.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has shut down the Kinikin Corner Dairy LLC after 11 people were sickened by campylobacter, a common food-borne bacteria. State authorities say at least 10 of the people who got sick since March 10 reported drinking raw milk, and eight of them got their milk from Kinikin.

Raw milk is not pasteurized to kill disease, but many people prefer its taste. Colorado health officials say they are contacting Kinikin's 200 cow-share customers.

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On the Net:

Kinikin Corner Dairy: http://www.freshrawmilk.com

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us