Like large portions of the US, we are about to have a deep cold snap after a bit of warmth, relatively speaking. ie – warmth is above 32 and raining instead of snowing.
The problem, of course is that this will be followed by subzero weather – so ice. Lots of cold and ice.
I work for a transportation company, so weather and road conditions are of paramount importance to us
But I find that our company’s obsession is nothing to a woman whose blog I follow. She’s a farmer. When it’s cold the water freezes. She ends up carrying 100 gallons of water to her animals. And because her farm, not unlike many farms, extends over quite an acreage with many buildings, it means she is hauling water over quite a damn distance in sub zero weather, plus wind, plus that icy layer caused by the warm rain today. She is constantly in a worry that all the animals will be able find sufficient shelter and warmth in these conditions. Because animals often die these conditions.
My maternal family is deeply farm embedded. Even today people I am related to own thousands of acres in Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. That blood is clear in me that I cannot help but follow farm blogs despite it having only the remotest relationship to my actual lived life.
So I find that rather than worrying about my drive to work, I’m worrying about whether her pigs, or ducks, or cows are going to be OK. They probably will be. She’s very focused on planning for their benefit. But what is heartbreaking for everyone is that sometimes, planning and effort aren’t enough. Sometimes the weather is just bigger than your efforts. And farmers face this all winter. Indeed, all year.
It's a Thought 
It is getting nasty here in Wisconsin. We got about 12+ inches of snow today and now the deep freeze is on the way. By Tuesday night into Wednesday we’re going to have lows of -25 to -35 with windchills down around -60. I am so very glad I don’t have to deal with a farm in this kind of weather. I remember all too well what it was like. Everything would freeze up. The tractors wouldn’t start. The cattle feed would be frozen so we’d have to spread it out on the barn floor to thaw before we could feed it. We were lucky enough that we’d had the foresight to bury our water pipes well below the normal frost level so we never had the pipes in the main barn or the house freeze up on us. But the pipes going to the building where the young cattle were housed did freeze and I carried a dozen or more buckets of water out there 10 gallons at a time, twice a day when the pipes were frozen to that building.
Ah, the good old days!
And now I hear that within a week the temperatures are supposed to be up around +40?? Really? Sigh — going from -35 to +40 in less than week. Sheesh.
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I’m afraid she’s on a old farm – no one buried the pipes. Although I guess they must have to the house because she is filling her buckets in the kitchen. I just worry she is going to fall while her husband is out of town, and freeze to death.
I just want to stop moving in this kind of weather. But a farmer has no choice. 24/7 365.
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My uncle had a farm and it can be rough sometimes. He had a large barn and many outbuildings. Thankfully our area doesn’t get so cold that engines don’t start. He had heat lamps for birthing areas to keep the young’uns warm.
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