Tuesday, January 8, 2013

What a Winter Storm Looks like to Farmer

You are going to need more than a shovel for this one. 

Well, these pictures are long overdue, but I still wanted to share them. The week before Christmas we got a huge Winter Storm. I was kind of excited for it because we were completely bare previous to this snow. Guess you can't take the Canadian girl out of me!

This was the change we saw in less than 12 hours. 
The storm brought in almost 12 inches of snow. And it brought wind, tons of wind. In Iowa that means huge drifts. It would have been nice to stay inside and enjoy a snow day, but when you are a farmer someone else is depending on you - your livestock. So the Boy and I bundled up and made the trip to our farm where the cattle are.


This is what the drive looked like to the farm. 


I am sure the weather was a little deceiving for those that live in town. The snow plows were out, and since there was so much more shelter from houses and trees the wind wasn't making a mess of everything. However, as we exited town we were once again faced with ugly winter conditions. 


When we got to the farm we started to make the rounds. Checking on waters to make sure nothing was frozen, getting cattle their feed and making sure they had protection from the elements. This is our pride and joy Teardrop. She got to come into the barn, not because she needed to, but she is a our baby and we had the room. p.s. Teardop is due to calve Jan. 12 so #calfwatch2013 is officially on!


The alleyway was so full of snow. It was definitely a good workout walking through those drifts. 


The show heifers were happy to get their grain. You can tell that they are fat and happy because of the ice crystals on their back. That fat keeps them warm, and will slightly melt the snow on their back and then refreeze. 

There really isn't anything more rewarding than knowing that you helped take care of an animal especially in a situation like this. However, I hope the rest of the moisture that we desperately need comes in smaller amounts during the rest of Winter. 

4 comments:

  1. Wow that looks so cold. Beautiful picture of the cow covered in snow. Hope you all are doing well, warm wishes!

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  2. Holy smokes. What wonderful picks! Excited you spend the evening writing blog posts - can't wait to read more!

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  3. It looks so beautiful from the inside looking out, and it's even more beautiful when you are out in the middle of it AND the waterers are NOT frozen, the feed IS unloading, AND ALL critters are present and accounted for! Can't believe we have hardly any of the white stuff here, just a 100 miles south of Chicago, AND it's supposed to be 57 on Saturday. My old bones are thinking we might pay for this little warm spell before it's all over. My 10 and 8 year old girls are PRAYING for snow, little idgits! ;-)

    Awesome pictures!

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    Replies
    1. Lana, thanks so much for stopping by. This winter weather has definitely been odd this year. I just hope that all the snow doesn't come in March when we start to calve!

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