Tuesday Night Freezing Warning Issued, Farmers Gearing Up For Winter

A freezing warning has been issued for Tuesday night and Van Buren Ag Extension Agent Chris Binkley said most of the time the first freeze signifies the end of the growing season.

Binkley said Tuesday’s night freeze would be just about the normal time of the year for the first freeze. Binkley said some cold-season grasses can continue to grow. But Binkley said that a freeze can especially affect many of the grasses the livestock feed off of.

“They’ve spent all summer long putting hay in the barn, it’s getting to the time of the year where we’re going to start taking it out of the barn,” Binkley said. “Your farmers that are doing rotational grazing, they might have some additional pastures left but for some farmers, they don’t have any pastures so they’re going to start feeding their stored forage, which is their hay.”

Binkley said he advises farmers to keep their faucets dripping during freezing weather, and their livestock warm.

“Make sure that the animals have plenty of fresh water and an ample supply of feed to help them get through that,” Binkley said. “When the temperatures drop animals do use more energy, you know they’re just like us, to try and stay warm and we gotta make sure that we’re providing that for them.”

Binkley said most producers typically plan on feeding their livestock hay sometime between the start of November to early March. Binkley said farmers should be careful feeding livestock Johnson grass, which grows in the winter, immediately after a freeze.

“When we have these cold spells it does set up an acid in it that is detrimental to the livestock,” Binkley said. “So you’ll want to keep your livestock off of it for about ten days for their health.”