As we really begin to warm up into spring on the farm, I have a better phrase I use to describe this time of year: wind season. Like myself, many farmers find something as simple as wind to be the most frustrating and stressful aspect of Farming. In terms of weather, I’d prefer hail, sleet, single digits, searing heat, and really any other type of weather to a windy day. Lets talk about that great enemy!
What We Mean By Wind
When you pay attention to the weather as much as I do, you learn that not all wind is created equally, far from it. First off, there’s the simple difference between a wind gust and sustained winds. Also, the direction that wind is blowing can have a huge effect on how it is felt in different locations. The time of day and time of year has an impact on wind, also. Finally, different weather patterns can create different types of wind.
Here on our farm, we are relatively exposed on top of a hill. To our west and north, we are protected fairly well by trees and buildings. To our east and especially southeast, we have no such cover, and are generally exposed to the full force of winds coming from those directions.
Broadly speaking, the prevailing wind pattern here is from the west. Westerly winds can be quite brutal in the fall and winter. However, as spring weather rolls in and warms up the air, weather patterns can shift wind patterns to the south, and the winds from these weather systems can be quite strong. We experience our worst wind events here at the farm anytime between January and May when warm fronts bring strong southeasterly or southwesterly winds directly at us.
These storms aren’t quite the same as a summer thunderstorm that rolls in with 60mph winds for ten minutes or so. They last hours or even days, sometimes with gusts above 45mph for many hours. When we get these storms, there’s a constant rumble outside, and rolling waves of gusts batter the farm. I’ll admit that I am at my most stressed out during these wind events. Here’s why.
What Wind Does To A Farm
There are so many things that can go wrong during a big spring windstorm. The first, as you might guess, is damage to infrastructure. High tunnels being destroyed by windstorms is all too familiar for produce farmers like myself, and there is also our deer fence, tarps, row covers, trellis, and irrigation infrastructure that has no other choice but to weather the storm.
Trees are another big concern. We’ve had several trees blown over here over the last two years, and sometimes directly over our driveway. Trees can also fall on buildings and other infrastructure, destroying it.
Then there’s the challenge for plants. Winds over this long a period will wear down the young small spring seedlings, even if they have been properly hardened off. The wind can also increase plant respiration, drying them out more quickly. Complicating that challenge is that overhead irrigation can be quite impossible in strong winds.
When these wind storms happen, it simply isn’t possible to do any work outside on the farm. I am forced to either work on things inside, or simply wait it out and delay important spring work in the field. The wind doubles this loss of labor by sometimes forcing me to spend most of the next day cleaning up and repairing things on the farm that have been damaged.
What I’ve Learned
The wind is still absolutely my biggest stressor, but I have learned a lot about how to live with it. Firstly, the more wind storms we make it through, the better I understand what to expect given the forecasts, and that helps me prepare better.
I have also gradually learned what will and won’t survive typical spring storms. For example, as I was first building my deer fence, it would get completely ravaged by storms each spring. I gradually beefed it up and so far this spring, I’ve had little to no damage even through some very serious wind.
I also do a much better job of only keeping items outside that I know won’t blow around. This is a blessing in more than one way: my farm tends to look very clean and free of random stuff.
I genuinely think that I have improved my relationship with mother nature on the wind front, and over time it may turn into a non-stressor. For now though, you’ll still see me obsessing over the wind forecast and staring nervously out my window as the trees bend and sway.