A Farmer's Winter Storm Perspective

Don't let the beautiful sunset fool you.  It has been COLD on the Kentucky/Tennessee border with temps dipping below zero and wind chills as low as -15 degrees!  Winter storm Octavia dumped about 10 inches of snow on us first of the week.  We have spent the days making sure all the heat is working and checking to be sure water was dripping everywhere to avoid frozen pipes and plowing snow off local roads.  We had to wipe snow off the cover of the greenhouse a few times on Sunday night and Monday to keep it from collapsing under the weight of the snow.  

This weather makes me respect our neighbors with livestock even more.  They have to feed and water their animals 365 days a year no matter the weather.  A neighbor told me yesterday he had lost his first 3 calves during the last week.  Extreme weather is a major reason hog and poultry producers keep their animals under roof like they do.  This would be a bad time to be a "Free Range" chicken or pig!  The good news is Spring is just around the corner and it will be planting season in only 6 weeks!

I went to the store with my wife Sunday evening to "stock up" for the storm and was reminded how blessed we are to live in a place that has an abundance of safe affordable food.  I thought about what it would be like to go to a store and expect empty shelves like the ones we encountered Sunday evening.  Remember the next time you visit your local grocery store the farmers didn't take a week off for the snow.  They had to march on business as usual to see to it the store shelves stay filled with safe affordable food choices for your family!   

  

By Tuesday morning the snow had drifted 3 -4 feet in many places along our county roads.  The tractor barely made it though in a couple of places.  We try to plow our roads our so our neighbors can get in and our if they need to and emergency vehicles can make it in if needed.  Sometimes it pays to have a tractor and a grader blade!

The snow cover does have a good side.  Snow cover acts as insulation and protects the small wheat crop from the extreme low temperatures we have been experiencing.  We have side dressed one application of nitrogen to the wheat crop.  I expect it to be lush once the snow melts away.

The peaceful scenery this week reminds us of the beauty of God's creation.