The Green Seasons are Behind Us...

We've spent a lot of time preparing for Winter months, even recently during this  strange Arctic weather so unlike the seasons of the past. We are thinking fast and reminding ourselves that conditions are not what they were and will never be what we can anticipate again. Folks, we have arrived. Climate CHANGE and all that implies. As farmers, we must learn to adapt to what we do not know. We must meld with the unfamiliar. We must adjust to accommodate the seasons of CHANGE. Our animals must, too. Only the heartiest of farmers and animals will survive and the greatest hope is that all will thrive. It is time for us to hunker down and think clearly, reflect, talk, and make important decisions to guide our planning for the future. We do this every Winter. Dormancy, if you will, though we never fully stop. There is always thinking and doing and doing and thinking and tinkering with new ideas to adapt. The time is now when the pastures are at rest and animals eat the summer's work of putting up green to sustain themselves until Spring. We farmers do the same. Happy Winter.