Snow, what does it mean to you?
To our farmers, snow brings strong but different thoughts to different farmers. To a soybean farmer, it means that any fields with beans still out, he realizes that he should either quit growing beans or own his own combine.
For a corn farmer, you cannot combine corn with any snow on the standing corn because the snow will clog the sieves in the combine and the corn grain will blow out onto the ground. Once the snow either melts or blows off with the wind combining can resume unless it’s deeper than the bottom of the cobs. If you planted a corn variety with very strong stocks, the corn will stand until it’s combined. If it falls down, the cobs will mold and be worthless. With the high cost of gas used to dry grain, some farmers may leave some corn fields that are far from wildlife until spring to combine and let it dry naturally to save drying and storage costs.
Farmers who keep animals inside buildings are glad to see the snow because it insulates the lower part of the buildings keeping cold out. Some farmers even push or blow snow against building walls to help keep them warmer. A couple of inches of snow on the roof provides more insulation.
Most farmers who keep beef cows and other animals outside in wintering sites look forward to snow which is a lot cleaner and warmer for the animals to walk on than frozen, bare ground. Snow covered ground is a lot warmer to lay on than bare frozen ground or muddy yards. Wild animals like deer and moose conserve more body heat too when walking or lying on snow-covered ground. When your pets go for a walk outside; they too will enjoy walking on snow much more than on bare frozen ground. One could stand and watch for a long time as any animal reacts to their first encounter with fresh fluffy snow.
Everyone has to move snow every time it falls, but in Canada, we know how to do that. When moving snow for the first time each year, we are all reminded that we should have picked up or moved everything that could get pushed away with the plow, or maybe even got stuck in the snow blower.
A friend who used to remove snow in large shopping centre yards once told me that the meanest thing he ever encountered on a cold, snowy night was a shopping cart that got demolished and stuck in one of those huge industrial snowblowers while cleaning up a snow pile. One year, I parked my snowblower too close to a high embankment and the first blowing snow the next winter covered it, which I never found until the snow melted the next spring.
We have already witnessed the first meeting in the ditch of the cars without snow tires. That was probably the driver’s first encounter with the first slippery, snowy road conditions when the temperature was just at freezing point. The rubber compound in snow tires has improved and new tread designs have made them both quieter on the road and last much longer on dry roads too. Our last four vehicles have never seen summer tires.
Something that we all forget is how heavy most snow is and in the frenzy of trying to clear it away as quickly as possible, trying to start the snowblower or just shoveling heavy snow takes its tole every winter when numerous people succumb to a heart attack before thinking to engage someone to move that snow for you. It’s cheaper than the alternative. Check your neighbours before they over-indulge moving that heavy snow. I noticed the first snowman carrying an umbrella in case a rain killed him.
As our holiday season approaches, we are aware of the many different faiths, languages and cultures that celebrate at different times and in various ways. All the friends who I know enjoy the same respect to our differences and enjoy learning and understanding different traditions.
Merry Christmas everyone!
