Video: Cold Weather Impacting Area Farmers

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Noxubee County, Miss.[WCBI]-Temperatures at or near record lows chilled the state of Mississippi during the first week of January. But those frigid temps did little to effect plants or get rid of insects. There is that hand numbing arctic blast we experienced this week.

The weather has been so cold Noxubee County teenagers could be seen skating on a frozen catfish pond, certainly not your typical occurrence in North Mississippi. And thread fin shad fish placed in ponds for algae control and good catfish flavor, have gone belly up.

“When it gets cold like this those fish can’t take the cold weather and it will get some of them, but most of the catfish will survive this cold weather.” says catfish farmer Waldrean Peaster. Ice and cold weather are responsible for not getting the catfish to market on time.

“There will be some processors that won’t be running tomorrow because they can’t get fish.”

Other farm business is hindered as well.

“The cold weather is simply shutting down all the progress as far as rebuilding the ponds and the frozen conditions as far as getting on the land. We’ve been doing some work with reconstruction and things like that.”

And the effect of the cold on insect pests

t “So I still don’t think its cold enough to effect those that are native to the state.”

You could see a decrease in the southern green stink bug often seen in vegetable gardens, and maybe non native fire ants.

Blake Laytonof MSU says  “Insects are adapted to survive in the winter, they do it in various ways. Some of them, they have like anti freeze in their blood, they can stand freezing temperatures and then revive following those freezing temps.”