How do farmers keep busy during the winter

By Myrina Carter

As the harvest season ends, many farmers are preparing for winter. Most people think this is vacation time for many farmers, but that is untrue. Many farmers are busy cleaning and fixing equipment, shopping for new equipment for the following year, and many review recent research and ideas.

Farmers ensure all their farming equipment is in working order and top shape, which helps minimize problems while in the field the following year. Checking belts, pulleys, chains, and bearings, then replacing those parts that are worn out—planning and strategizing is a large part of farming crops, how to rotate crops, learning how different crops performed and even looking into weather conditions. Throughout the winter, finances are reviewed, taxes are prepared, and fertilizer and seed rates are investigated. Farmers also plan out next year’s production and sales goals and devise a food safety plan for farm operations. This also includes maintaining water and food sources for livestock throughout the cold winter months. Some farmers also roll up and test drip tape, roll up row covers, pick up hoops and find places to store everything.

Local to the Redwater area, Nicole and Shaun Fried are farmers who follow along with grain-grown crops yearly. During the winter months, they carry on distributing their products. Nicole Fried said, “We are a strict grain farm, and after our harvest season, we move onto grain handling during the winter months. We would fill our contracts and haul them into elevators whether it was put into bags or bins.”

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Photo: Shaun Fried, a local farmer in Redwater, lines up four combines along with a grain cart at the end of each day for planned and organized unloading. Along with making it easier to clean and maintain, and ready to go for the next day and fueling.