The cold weather is becoming big trouble for some Illinois farmers.
Fruit growers throughout the state say they've been hit hard by the frigid temperatures.
Here in Champaign, workers at Curtis Orchard say they've been putting in long nights to save as much as they can.
"Five days of potentially killing freezes really put us into overdrive," says co-owner, Randy Graham.
Using propane heaters and fires, they are trying to warm up the field by four to six degrees. Graham says it appears to be working because they haven't lost as much of the crop as those in other parts of the state.
U of I professor of Environmental Sciences, Mosbah Kushad says the warmer weather we saw actually made this recent cold snap even worse for apples and other fruits grown in the state.
"What happened to us this year more than in previous years is we had that warm spell with 70 degree temperatures. It pushed the blossoms and they thought it was spring," added Kushad.
"They start to grow, then you hit the temperatures at 18, 20 degrees and that kills the blossoms."
He says Illinois is not a major producer of fruit so the good news is consumers shouldn't see much of a price increase at the grocery store.
Illinois wine makers say they were also hit hard. Owners at alto vineyards say they lost a lot of their crop to the hard freeze.
Now, with temperatures expected to rise, growers in the state say their fingers are crossed.
"What we'd like to see is a return to normal temperatures," says Graham. "Normal temperatures during any month of the year are what we prefer."
