AMARILLO,TEXAS -- The cold snap that is moving through the area isn't just going to affect your heating bills or what you might pay for a new coat. It's also going to affect the price you pay for certain foods.
The arctic air in the sunshine state is freezing oranges and strawberries and that means the price of produce you buy will go up.
Dr. Stephen Amosson of the Agrilife Extension Center says "You're going to see an immediate impact on the prices of the fresh produce, in particular. However, if it does damage those orange trees, we can see a much longer effect."
The artic air doesn't stop in Florida it's already making its way to the Lone Star State and that means an effect on cattle and wheat crops too. While cattle are fairly resilient they will use more energy to keep their bodies warm.
Dr. Ted McCollum a beef cattle specialist says "Our main loss, will be that producers need more feed to animals because energy requirements are going to be higher. So what the impact will be is, animals in our feed lots will not be gaining weight as rapidly."
And that could make it take longer for them to reach the processing plants.
But our experts say since the freeze blast is an isolated incident it won't have the same effect on your pocketbook as those oranges.
"A blast that's gonna come in here for 5 or 6 days isn't going to change the demand and supply of feed so greatly that's it's going to drive prices up," said McCollum.
Wheat is also expected to be safe because it's dormant during winter and resistant to cold temps.
"So I don't think overall we'll see much of a problem, we may have some leak burks, it may look bad, but it should grow out to be fine," said Dr. Brent Bean, Extension Agronomist with the Agrilife Extension.
So while the Panhandle farmers are not expected to see a big or long-lasting effect, your pocket books could if you want those fresh fruits or a glass of OJ.
