DE PERE (NBC26) - Snow and cold on the heels of our record rain, could spell trouble for crops. The cold temperatures now affecting farmers' harvesting timelines and its colors.
"Our pile of feed here is not a green color like we normally have because it froze before we got it in even, so consequently it's not going to be as good of quality feed as we would have liked to have,” explained farmer Raymond Diederich of De Pere.
While there's still plenty of feed left to be harvested, farmers are stuck again not in the fields. The snow acting like a warm coat and keeping the ground in its muddy condition and making it hard for tractors to once again, do their jobs.
"A lot of our equipment doesn't work with snow in it,” Diederich said. “It freezes up inside, you get it working in there, it thaws and freezes up, stuff doesn't work. Combines don't work, hay cutters don't work, and a lot of hydraulics when it gets this cold is a challenge for them also."
As farmers work to get the crops in that they can, the recent weather continues to weigh in on an already challenging time. But farmers, like Diederich, are trying to stay optimistic.
"It's the weather, it's Mother Nature. We learned a long time ago we don't control that, we just learn to deal with it."
Farmers are still hoping for a few more warm days, compared these January-like conditions. Diederich says he's hoping the snow melts this next week, so they can get back to harvesting what's left. That also means tractors will be out on the roads; reminding drivers to keep a safe distance and drive slow.
