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No Till Notes: 'Only-16'

The good news is that the temperature only dropped to 16 below zero last night and the weathermen are predicting a slow warm up for this week. It’s been quite some time since we have endured a prolonged cold spell like this one. By the time you read this I hope the temperatures are at least back to what will feel like a balmy normal winter temperature for our area.

We did receive about a foot of snow here in the Alliance area. Fortunately the wind hasn’t moved the snow around too much and hopefully the snow will settle down and crust before the wind really howls again.

These types of temperatures are really hard on livestock and livestock producers as well as wildlife. Extra effort is required to feed and water the livestock when the wind chills start hitting the -30 to -40 below range. It’s hard to imagine how wildlife survives in this extreme cold but the wild animals and birds somehow manage to persevere through these arctic conditions.

Like a lot of other folks in our area I found out that the battery in my pickup needed replaced. While I was at it I also finally got around to fixing the tire that had been slowly leaking air for the past few weeks. We’ve also have a couple of semis with corn still on them that we won’t get dumped until the weather warms. The cold sure makes it more difficult to get chores done.

The residues in the field certainly caught a good portion of the snow that fell and the moisture received will help fill the soil moisture profile for next spring. The stripper head combined winter wheat fields really help hold the snow when you get a large amount of snow like we did with this last storm.

It’s hard to find much positive about these frigid temperatures. One good thing concerning cold temperatures is some diseases and insects that can become problematic in crop production are held at bay with these arctic temperatures. Warm winters tend to have more diseases and insects over winter leading to more outbreaks of disease and insects in production agriculture the following year.

We’ve all learned how to manage living in the cold that Nebraska winters impose on us. The cold and snow definitely slow everything down and test our determination to make the best of it. One thing is for sure, the next 45 degree day with sunshine and no wind is really going to feel nice. Folks in Florida don’t know how good 45 degrees can feel.

 

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