Why Is This A Big Deal?

As I scanned social media this morning I saw countless posts from my friends in agriculture that reminded everyone how terrible the weather currently is, how taxing it was for those in agriculture and occasionally they added the popular hashtags #thankafarmer or #thankarancher.

But perhaps we should dive deeper and explain to those not involved in agriculture WHY this brutal cold weather is such a headache for us all.  

I have a sweet friend that lives in town and she feels comfortable asking me the most basic questions about agriculture, which is sometimes what we all need to get back to.  

WHY is this brutal cold so awful for those caring for livestock?  Everyone just drives around in feed pickups all day, right? 

This came from the friend that often mentions how she likes to look at the cows (meaning cattle) in the field at the edge of our town.  But it's a pasture... and they are bison. 

But I digress.  And her question was completely valid and started some great conversation.  

***

On days brutal cold days when the snow and wind blows people would most like to stay in the house and relax; however, these are often the days when ranchers are allowed to relax the very least.  Caring for animals comes before anything else, period.  (Or periodT.  Isn't that how the cool kids say it these days?) 

Normal, daily chores must still happen like providing feed, checking the head count to make sure everything is accounted for, finding the few stray head, evaluating herd health and administering the appropriate medicines in judicious amounts... the list goes on and on.  Even these normal tasks require 'extra'.  Extra feed, extra attention, extra bedding, extra everything.  Nothing wants to move easily, so opening a gate with a layer of ice securing everything in place takes quite a bit of extra 'oomph'. 

On top of that, ensuring water sources are readily available and not totally frozen is a constant effort.  Ranchers carry axes/rock bars,/sledge hammers/weapon of choice in order to bust through the ice multiple times a day.  Often times during light freezes cattle can paw at the ice and provide themselves with fresh water.  When the temperatures are not forecasted to rise above freezing for nearly two weeks that is no longer an option.  

Sometimes the water source is a tank or trough, and even these still require attention as they still have the ability to freeze in this weather.  They may still need ice chopped and removed multiple times a day.  The parts on these water tanks can crack or bust, as can nearly anything in this extreme cold.  This weather can result in extra mechanical issues as the feed pickups, tractors and feed wagons bounce across the hardened, sharpened, sometimes icy, ground.  

Some operations are also calving this time of year.  (And this is when I thank God that we have a few more weeks before we're due to start.)  This simply adds another layer of difficulty to an already long to-do list.  Although God made these outdoor animals hardy and tough enough to survive many circumstances we also feel there is no need for suffering.  And so folks are constantly checking their livestock for signs of active labor.  Pacing, raised tailhead, bagging up (filling of the udder) - the females have their telltale signs if you know what you're looking for.  Just in case we have an early calf I made sure we're prepared with our powdered colostrum, bottles and old bath towels.  Old bath towels are a treasured item in our house.  

Is this an exhaustive list?  Absolutely not.  Is this an exhausting list?  Absolutely yes.  And I understand that there probably isn't an occupation that does not suck during this extreme winter weather.  Linemen, oilfield workers, plumbers, the list goes on and on.  I just hope that when someone posts online to #thankafarmer or #thankarancher that they also take the time to explain why livestock producers are doing what they do.  

....and it is a bit more work than just driving around in feed pickups.