Heavy snowfall interferes with many chores. For farmers and ranchers, the heavy snowfall this year means more work fixing fences when the snow melts.
On the Fleck ranch, there are 300 head of cattle, and that means having safe, secure fences is essential, so they don’t wander onto other land. “Well, pretty much all of it. We have some pastures that are pretty level. Those won’t be so bad. We have some that have deep draws and big hills, and for anything with deep draws and big hills, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of fencing to have to be done,” said Fleck.
Fleck says this is the worst year of snow drifting on fences in around a decade. “Yeah, this year is going to be a doozy. We’ve had a year like this in the past, but it’s been awhile,” said Fleck. The snow poses more problems than just fencing for ranchers and makes it harder to do other maintenance. “Cuz you’re trying to get the crop in, cattle sorted, hauled out, and ten times the work with the fencing on years like this,” said Fleck.
Fleck is getting his materials ahead of time to avoid the later hassle. “Probably want to get your fencing supplies early cuz there might be a shortage of wire and posts this spring cuz everyone’s going to need it,” said Fleck.
To fix the fence, he does it all by hand with staples, clips and posts, which is a very time-consuming process. In the good spots, he can mend it, but this year there will some spots he will just start over.
The Fleck’s will start with the closer pastures and then move to the bigger ones that are further away. The hope each year is to get the cows on the grass as soon as possible.