<p> As the recent passing hard freeze reaches its bitter end, new evidence from inspections show that mandarins seem to have received the worst of the damage. Mandarins gathered on Tuesday from across Kern County had shown significant amounts of frost damage in preliminary testing on Friday by county inspectors.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> According to The Bakersfield Californian, four of six mandarin samples, each consisting of 33 pieces of fruit, exhibited enough damage to write off this season’s production in the groves where the batches were picked. Paul Story, Director of Grower Services, tells AndNowUKnow that although the warm weather will hasten the breakdown in the fruit, it will still take some time before we can see a full assessment of the damage done. The following results are not to be considered representative, as the county only takes samples from areas believed to have suffered the worst from the frost.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Jennifer Stilwill, supervising biologist in the county Agricultural Commissioner’s Office says that mandarin samples gathered in the Rio Bravo, Arvin, and Delano areas had suffered the most damage, while mandarins from Maricopa and Edison had shown some evidence of damage. Navel oranges seem to be relatively well off however, with only one of 11 samples showing enough damage to taint an entire batch. The only lemon sample suffered “quite a bit of damage,” enough to write off the batch.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Growers tell AndNowUKnow that as daytime temperatures begin to warm, any issues in quality will begin to show themselves more rapidly. Story tells us that Mercott mandarins are the crop to be most concerned about, as they were not yet mature before the frost set in. Nevertheless, we are told that clementines are being shipped in good condition as they were harvested pre-freeze.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> As inspections continue, what will the true extent of the damage show? Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue our coverage on the California citrus freeze. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1210654703/Tests-show-frost-damage-to-Kerns-mandarin-crop" target="_new"> Bakersfield Californian </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
