What this week’s winter wallop means for farmers across the U.S.

A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers And more is on the way, with the polar air expected to continue to grip some places until at least Friday. Farmers always watch the weather, but depending on where they’re located and what they produce, winter always presents mental challenges for growers, said Carolyn Olson, an organic farmer in southwestern Minnesota who is also vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors. “It’s just a lot of pressure on agriculture at this time of the year.” Livestock producers dealing with ‘generational storm’ Biting wind and big drifts from almost a whole year’s average snowfall in a single storm are hitting farmers in some parts of Kansas “in ways that we haven’t seen in this area for a very, very long time, potentially a lifetime,” said Chip Redmond, a meteorologist at Kansas State University who developed an animal comfort tool. ‘Feast or famine’: Extremes and unpredictability worry some farmers The lack of snow is a greater concern farther north in some parts of Minnesota, where producers do have winter crops like alfalfa or winter wheat. “There’s not a lot you can do, unfortunately,” when ice breaks a plant’s crown, said Martin Larsen, who grows alfalfa in addition to other crops like corn in southeastern Minnesota.