Freezing or near-freezing temperatures can hurt pastureland that livestock feed on.
"Last year we had about a month, month and a half of that prolonged cold, dry weather," says Placer County Agricultural Commissioner Josh Huntsinger, "and that really shut down pasture growth and really did have a severe impact on our grazing."
Sacramento County's Agricultural Commissioner Juli Jensen says the chill could also hurt some livestock.
"We have cattle and calves in dairy so those animals all need to be protected. Also we do have some goats and goats don't handle super cold temperatures real well."
Meanwhile, Huntsinger says the chilly overnight temperatures don't appear to be hurting Placer County's $2 million annual mandarin orange crop.
"Most of, or a large percentage of the crop, is already harvested for the year," says Huntsinger, "and so it's a little better than if the cold temperatures occurred earlier back in December or November certainly."
Huntsinger says the cold can be a good thing for nut trees which need chilling hours to put them into dormancy.
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