Ask A Farm Family
Q: What do farmers do during the winter months?
A: We have a long list of things to do during the winter months. It includes cleaning, repairs, restocking, meetings, and much more.
Farm families stay busy year-round, even in the winter months.
Once harvest is done and the field work is over, we start on a list of things that need to be done over the winter.
We will clean and repair all of the harvest equipment and put it away in the shed. We will also fix whatever other equipment that happens to break throughout the year and gets pushed aside while we were busy. It’s also necessary to restock filters and parts used during the farming seasons.
If weather permits, we will add or fix any tiles that are needed to help with drainage.
We will then decide on what worked and what didn’t during the growing season so that we can make changes for next season’s crops.
The winter months allow us to sit down and evaluate all of the yields and seed varities, order the seed needed for next year, along with fertilizer and other imputs.
It’s also the time when we have to attend meetings for educational purposes. It’s time to get caught up on the newest innovations and take care of all our certification classes.
With the change in weather, we also have to make sure that our lifestock buildings are ready for extreme temperatures and snow storms. This includes fixing what needs to be fixed in these buildings and making sure the animals have what they need for the cold months ahead.
There is plenty to keep us busy throughout winter. After all the work is said and done and there is by chance a break, it’s also a great, (dare I say) slow time, to be able to get away with the family.
Spring is here before we know it and the fun starts all over again.
-Jason Ness
