Farmers deal with winter wallop and its effect on plans for spring

A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers.  And more is on the way, with the polar air expected to continue to grip some places until at least Friday.

Farmers always watch the weather, but depending on where they’re located and what they produce, winter always presents mental challenges for growers, said Carolyn Olson, an organic farmer in southwestern Minnesota who is also vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors.

Producers know that the timing and amount of winter moisture affect farming conditions for the rest of the year. It’s also a time for planning ahead — something becoming increasingly difficult as climate change ramps up variability in snowfall, rainfall and other weather conditions that can make or break an operation.

“They’re doing that stressful part of making those decisions on how they’re going to farm this year, what they’re going to grow,” Olson said. “It’s just a lot of pressure on agriculture at this time of the year.”

Biting wind and big drifts from almost a whole year’s average snowfall in a single storm are hitting farmers in some parts of Kansas “in ways that we haven’t seen in this area for a very, very long time, potentially a lifetime,” said Chip Redmond, a meteorologist at Kansas State University. The risk is real: Calves, especially, can die when temperatures slip below zero. And so much snow in rural areas can keep farmers from reaching herds with food and water, Redmond said.

The storm missed some states further north like Iowa and Minnesota that are generally more accustomed to snow. Stu Swanson, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, said that eases tasks like moving grain and working with livestock.

He added that without snow cover, the ground is more likely to freeze and thaw in a way that could benefit soils. Two years of drought followed by torrential rains last spring created tire ruts and compaction from farm machinery in some places, he said. He hopes that without as much snow, the freeze-thaw cycle will loosen up the soil and farmers may get the added bonus of some pests dying off before the spring.

The lack of snow is a greater concern farther north in some parts of Minnesota, where producers do have winter crops like alfalfa or winter wheat.

Reliable snow cover is important in those areas because it insulates soil from cold. A few of inches of snow on top of a field can keep winter wheat’s crown (which is still underground this time of year to withstand the winter) at 28 degrees even if the air temperature is as low as minus 40, said Jochum Wiersma, an extension professor at the University of Minnesota.

Gary Prescher, who has been farming a small grain operation for about 50 years in south-central Minnesota, said he’s noticed more variability over the past six to 10 years. That’s changing his long-term philosophy on the farm. He said he wants to make sure his operation can handle more extreme weather events, and that excess heat, cold, dryness, wetness or wind have “forced some changes out here for me and my neighbors.”

“If you’re just looking at averages, it’s very deceiving,” he said. “It’s either all or none.”



(AP Photo Abbie Parr)