Early Blizzard Could Mean A Hard Winter For Midwestern Farmers

When you're a farmer and live a life connected to the land you don't need almanacs and weather forecasts to predict longterm weather.

It's only November 18th and we are under blizzard conditions here in southwest Michigan.  We already had eight inches of snow last week, and with another ten inches last week, below 20 degree temperatures and winds to match - there's no need for a weatherman to give a heads up for the winter season to come.

I've seen the signs since late summer and we worked like crazy people to get our farm buttoned down for the winter.  It actually started in July when I started to see those Woolly Bear Caterpillars (you know the ones with the black and tan bands).  Normally I don't see them until September.  Furthermore, most of them were solid black. . . . the thinking is that the wider the tan band the milder the winter will be . . . Then, when my garden pretty much gave up the ghost around Labor Day, I said "um".  Our horses also haired up early and heavy.  Even my show mare, who was blanketed until October, put on her winter coat in days after pulling the blanket off.  Last, but not least, when most of the leaves were off of the trees by Nov. 1, I said, "yep, we're in for another long winter". 

The bad thing about an early, hard winter is the toll it can take on our perennial crops like fruit trees, grapes, hay, lavender, and herbs.  Snow, unless we get a very hard and deep snow pack, isn't as much of a problem as is sub-zero temperatures and wind chills. Unfortunately there isn't much we can do about it except prepare for some winter kill and the replacement of some of our trees, vines, or plants, etc.