Staying Busy On Your Farm In Winter

While farming is based on seasons, it’s not really a seasonal occupation. Most of the work may be done in spring through fall, but there are many tasks that farmers need to get done to maintain their land through the winter months. Some of these tasks are relatively simple, while others are more complex. Regardless of the difficulty, all of them need to be finished to make sure your farm is ready for the next round of crops.

To help you out with that, we at Rivera’s Machinery Inc. have created this list to help you figure out some of the things you can do while your fields lay dormant so you’re ready for the spring planting season. For all your farm equipment needs, visit our dealership in Donna, Texas.

Greenhouse Growing

You can grow crops even in winter! During the colder months, many farmers turn to greenhouses to continue to grow produce and earn a profit. These greehouses can be simple canvas shelters or more elaborate glass buildings. Cover crops like winter rye, hardy grasses and buckwheat can be grown in colder climates or you can invest in row covers. Crops like cabbages and other leafy greens or root vegetables like carrots and turnips are all crops that tolerate cold well. Weeds will be much less of an issue during winter, so your crops are more likely to flourish, provided you keep them warm and watered with plenty of access to sunlight.

Equipment Care

During the planting and harvesting seasons, you use your farm equipment a lot and it often ends up somewhat worse for wear afterwards. Winter is a great time for you to get your tractors, combine harvesters, hay balers, seeders and all other farm equipment serviced and repaired so they’re ready for work when spring rolls around. If you want professional maintenance and repairs done, bring your farm equipment down to Rivera’s Machinery Inc. Just contact our service department and we’ll get you all fixed up.

Shelter Checks & Maintenance

You may have animals or you may simply be storing equipment over the winter; for both, you want to ensure that your barn and shed are adequately insulated against inclement weather. If you have animals, protect them from the cold by insulating your barn against the wind and rain to keep them warm. Window shutters or insulation will stop the cold from seeping in.

If your barn roof was damaged by high winds during the summer, roof repairs might be needed. In very cold climates, you may need to invest in devices to keep water from freezing. This could mean circulators or heaters or simply keeping water in a large, insulated tank that animals can still easily access.

Update All Records

When you’re busy with the demands of a farm, you tend to keep all those bookkeeping tasks off to the side for later. Winter is the time for you to go over your accounting records and review all the data you collected of your farm over the past year. You can take note of how much your harvest yielded, when crops were planted, weather conditions that may have impacted growth and weeds or insects that might have affected your yields.

Cull Animals

If you have animals on your farm, now’s the time to take stock of them and decide if you want to sell or cull the extra animals to save on some upkeep costs. Only keep the animals that you can successfully maintain. If you’re having financial problems, it’s probably a good time to cut down on the numbers by either butchering them, selling them for a profit or giving them away to someone else who can keep them.

We hope this list helps you keep your farm running smoothly. If you have farm equipment that needs maintenance, bring it down to Rivera’s Machinery Inc at our location in Donna, Texas, and we’ll whip it into shape in no time! If you’re looking for worthy farm equipment, head over to our dealership and have a chat with one of our expert staff. We’re proud to serve the good people of Harlingen and San Benito.