Do Farmers Really Work during the Winter?

Summer is the busiest time of the year on the farm and I often hear my husband say "I will get a chance to do some things when it slows down this winter."  Winter is supposed to be a slow time on the farm.  No crops to plant or harvest, no hay to cut and bale, and no 14 hour days in the wheat field.  However, Dan says this every summer and when winter arrives he is still busy on the farm.  I have yet to see a winter when things really slow down since I have moved to Kansas.  Winter days are filled with feeding cows, preparing for early spring calving season, catching up on projects in the machine shop which are put off during the summer, fixing fences, and finally the most time consuming job and focus of this blog...clearing brush and trees.

I have never really had to help much with this job.  I am usually busy with my full-time job as a crop adjuster.  Now that I have Lorena, I am working from home more and we spend most of our days inside waiting for warmer weather and for flu season to be over.  Today we had a small glimpse of spring so Lorena and I ventured out to the family's latest tree clearing project.

There are many reasons to cut brush:
1.  To prevent pesky little cedars from becoming giant trees that suck moisture out of the ground
2.  To keep the cedar trees from going to seed and spreading all over the farm
3.  To make firewood to heat our house
4.  To make more pasture for our cows and calves to graze on during the summer
5.  To make the pastures more efficient (trees and brush can choke our grass, providing less food for cows to eat)
6.  To make hedge posts for fences and corrals for the cattle
7.  To make the pastures "clean" (which is the main reason to cut brush in my opinion)

Here are some photos I snapped today to give you an idea of how we spend a sunny winter day:

Skid Steer is a necessary piece of equipment for clean up - Jasper appears to be helping in this one

Tree saw attached to skid steer which is used to cut down tree

Once tree is cut down, Dan uses chainsaw to cut straight parts of trunk into fence posts

Dan taking a break.  I have heard stories that he started using a chainsaw when he was 5 years old.

Uncle Phil comes to pick up fence posts

Skid steer used to pile the finished product

The crooked posts and scraps are taken to another pile.  Some good logs are saved for firewood for our wood stoves

Brush pile burning the craps and tree limbs - A common site on the Hiesterman Farm

Dan and Luke taking a break

What I do when the guys are clearing trees:

Explore the pasture.   this is some sort of cactus I found today.

Bring Dan water...it got hot today!

Take care of our chubby angel Lorena Ruth

Cutting trees is labor intensive and time consuming work.  However, the Hiestermans take pride in keeping their pastures clean, similar to how my Dad prides himself on keeping the roadsides mowed during the summer on his farm in Illinois.  Farmers are stewards of the land.  By clearing brush and keeping our trees cut, we are providing a safe and bountiful place for our cattle to pasture.  Our honey-do lists will be bigger come springtime, the kitchen floors may be dirty, our yards may not be mowed every week during the summer, and there may be iron piles scattered all over our yards, but our pastures are always clean.

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