Breaking ice to ensure the calves have water is part of what a farmer does in the winter. Photo from Organic Valley Coop.

By Jeff Burbrink
Ag & Natural Resources Extension Educator, Purdue Extension LaGrange County

LAGRANGE — With only 1% of the U.S. population farming now, there is certainly a disconnect between those who farm and those who do not. One common question that seems to sum up that disconnect is “What do farmers do in the winter?”

Jeff Burbrink

My answer usually starts with, “Well, it’s not an off-season, that’s for sure.” They are not hibernating!

Once you think it through, it is pretty obvious that livestock producers are going to be busy year around. Livestock need food, water, shelter, and warmth, just like people, all year long. There’s manure to haul, fences to mend, and the weather shows no mercy. Grinding and hauling feed, marketing livestock, keeping ahead of frozen pipes, staying ahead of the colds and flus that animals get are just the tip of the iceberg for people who raise animals for a living.

It might be a little less obvious to outside observers, but grain growers have their hands filled too. After the corn and beans go in the bin, someone has to sell it, haul it to market when the price “is right,” and make sure the grain doesn’t go out of condition.

You know what it’s like to have moths in your kitchen pantry? Imagine that scenario in a 50,000-bushel bin. Grain growers also do maintenance and set up on the equipment in the winter, as well as lots and lots of planning.

It might surprise you to know that many local farmers have already purchased their 2024 inputs, like seed, fertilizer and fuel, for delivery next spring. Why do you think those ag supply companies run their advertisements during the basketball season? That’s when the decisions are made.

The decisions made during the 70-90 day “lull” in the winter can really make or break the profitability of the farm next year. That’s why so many farmers attend meetings in the winter.

Whether the meeting is sponsored by the Extension Service, or a company peddling seed, pesticides or equipment, the importance of being a low-cost producer has become a key to survival in the agricultural world. You look for every edge you can get. In just the past few weeks, 2375 people attended the Northern Indiana Grazing Conference, 140 attended a pesticide applicator conference and 50 attended a vegetable growers’ program locally. That’s how you stay abreast of new developments.

Once the first of April comes around, it becomes very difficult to get farmers to come to meetings. They have field work to do.

I do not get many calls for farmers from April to mid-June, but when I do, it’s usually something that needs to be handled quickly, like an unknown pest issue, or crops that are not growing as expected. In the spring, calls from homeowners with ailments like falling tree leaves and odd patterns in their garden or garden replace the time I spent with the farmers during the winter.

And then there is July. I frequently get the question “what do you do after the fair is over?” July is very hectic, but in all honesty, the winter “meeting season” with farmers feels a lot more intense than that one week in July. That’s where the rubber hits the road for me. While the farmers are in the field for harvest, I am planning the meetings they will be attending in the winter.

It’s an annual cycle that farmers and their advisors face each year, but goes mostly unnoticed by the non-agricultural public.