Craig Mentzer peered out the window of his Ford F-250, counting young Angus calves sheltering themselves against their mothers. “ENOUGH TO keep me busy,” Mentzer said cryptically with a laugh when asked how many head of cattle he has on his farm. He has 18 calves ranging from two to 17 days old. EXPERIENCE is the real tool during a harsh winter for farmers, and Mentzer has seen about all of it. But that doesn’t mean his job isn’t changing.
This was the fourth time Mentzer had driven around his herd. One cow is missing, he doesn’t know if she is calving or has fallen victim to one of the many coyotes in the area.
“Coyote tracks,” Mentzer said, while pointing to impressions in the snow. “That always scares me.”
He had lost a calf the day before to coyotes, who seem to be more active during winter months — their usual diet of smaller rodents had been covered up by a fresh six inches of snow. He said he would check back later to see if the cow shows up. He seemed concerned, but not all too surprised.
Winter can be a challenging time for any farmer, especially when temperatures dip near zero at night and fresh snowfall coats the ground like the past⨠week in Allen County.
Mentzer, 56, has been farming northwest of Iola his entire life. He has around 700 acres of grazing land for his cattle, plus cropland he uses for soybeans and corn. Mentzer said he usually spends a few hours feeding and tending to his cattle, but a day like Wednesday’s — with a high of 10 and a low of 2 — had him outside for at least eight hours.
“When it gets down below 15 degrees, you need to check on them every couple of hours,” he said.
He cleared out an area in one of his north pastures with a grader, near a bluff to block the wind. When bone-chilling temperatures strike the area, it can be dangerous for a herd, but he said he has been lucky so far this season — at least as far as weather-related deaths go.
“If we take care of them, they’ll be fine,” Mentzer said. “I’ve had calves’ ears get frozen off and tails frozen off and it’s hard on their lungs.”
During the winter months, he increases the amount of hay he feeds. It’s the fuel source that keeps cows warm, in addition to their long-fur coats. He said 20 cows can eat a big round bale of hay (about 1,000 pounds) pretty quickly.
Water can be an issue as well. Ponds freeze over and cows will tend to venture out on them — which, needless to say, is a problem.
“Those ponds are like a death trap for cows, that ice is only about two or three inches thick,” he said. “I bet two or three cows could break it.”
To help prevent any incident, Mentzer fenced off ponds and ran “frost-free” underground pipes to water stations away from the source. It keeps him and his cows away from the water. Although, when the temperature is very cold, he still has to visit each site and break the ice away from the opening of the pipe.
“It’s better than chopping ice on a pond,” he added.
Over the past few years coyotes have had more of a presence than ever, particularly in the winter.
“They’re hungry now that their mice are covered up,” he said, after seeing the tracks running through the snow. “You didn’t use to see as many.”
Mentzer carries a gun on the truck, and tries to scare any predators off when he sees them. Nevertheless, he still loses a calf or two in some winters to the coyotes.
The cows don’t make it any easier. They generally calf in the dead of winter, and oftentimes will hide away from the herd when giving birth. He has to hunt down the mother and her new born to make sure it is being taken care of — and prevent it from freezing to the ground.
He strategically places batches of hay away from the herd, in hopes that the cows will calf there, sometimes they do.
Other bits of knowledge have been passed down from generation to generation. He also does research in magazines, online and attends classes, schools and seminars across the state — anything to keep ahead of a certain winter challenge.
He stockpiled hay before the winter season, thinking he had a surplus. It turns out it will be just enough to get through the winter. He returned to his home, plodding along in his truck through the fields. Hard days like this on the farm didn’t seem to change his attitude, but it can’t be easy.
“It’s not a cake walk,” he said.
Cows’ survival a full-time job for farmers in frigid temperatures
