GRAINGER COUNTY, Tenn. — As East Tennesseans gear up for a week of freezing temperatures, so are farmers.
Kim Stratton is a generational tomato farmer and no stranger to cold October conditions.
"Anything under 32 degrees becomes a danger," he said. "And then when it drops under 30 degrees, it's almost an assurance that it's going to kill it."
Stratton is part of Stratton Farms, a family farm in Grainger County where they grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers among other crops.
"My grandfather actually started growing tomatoes back in the early '50s," Stratton said.
At the Stratton Farm, workers are on the go as they harvest the last batch of crops.
"It's been really busy the last two or three days, we're trying to get as much harvested as we can before the actual really cold weather gets here."
Stratton explains that they've needed to pick crops early before harvest to let them ripe. Hundreds of boxes filled with green tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers sit inside his packing house.
"The reason we do that is if we don't pick them, we're going to lose them," he said. "The freeze is going to get them. And once it freezes them, they're ruined. They're garbage."
He said this year's cold low temperatures came earlier and can cost him up to $10,000 worth of loss.
"If you lose this, you're losing profit," he said.