Pennsylvania grapes face bleak time

ERIE, Pa. -- Vineyards in Pennsylvania are bracing for a bleak season after being bitten by a series of frosts that may have wiped out 75 percent of the state's grape crop.

Vineyards have laid off farmhands and returned fertilizers and chemicals as they anticipate losing most of their crop.

"It's still early, but we have guys with hundreds of acres that are 80 to 100 percent down," said Andy Muza, a grape specialist with the Erie County Cooperative Extension. "What I am hearing is that it's not been since 1945 that we actually had a frost as severe as this."

Tom Davenport, director for viticulture for the National Grape Cooperative, estimates the state may lose as much as 75 percent of its $25 million grape crop.

"I have never seen anything like this," Davenport said.