Standard Process Inc.

Winter at the Farm

February 2007 News From The Farm SP News Article

Christine Mason,
Farm Manager

It has been a very strange winter in Palmyra this year. We had a two-week stretch of extremely cold weather in October. The month of November seemed like Indian summer. We had a true blizzard on December 1, and since then, we have had 50 degree days with rain. It has been an easy winter for those of us who are cold until July 4, but such extreme changes in the weather are very hard on plant life. As I look out my window today, the trees and bushes are budding and the alfalfa and clover have come out of dormancy. Next week is forecasted to have highs that only reach mid-twenties. This is when perennial crops tend to die in the far North. They are tricked out of dormancy and then find themselves "growing" right in the middle of winter. Keep your fingers crossed for our perennial crops. If we could get some snow before the weather turns cold, our crops will do fine (and my daughter could use the two brand new sleds that have not seen any snow since Christmas).

The weather has been nice enough that we have been able to complete many outside tasks. There is a machine shed on the far side of the Standard Process Farm that has received a wonderful new face-lift. We will now use this shed to do winter painting of equipment so that we can keep our brand new farm shop pristine and without paint speckles.  By the time this newsletter arrives, we will have all of our seed needs ordered for 2007. Please remember if you are planning to do any organic gardening that organic and heirloom seed tends to be very limited, so make sure to place your garden orders early.

The farm management team always spends the last weekend of February at the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin. At this conference, we will attend break out sessions for three days and we always come home energized with new ideas to try. Take a look at the conference schedule at www.mosesorganic.org. If you want to learn anything about organics, it is a wonderful conference to attend.

Also exciting, the Governor of Wisconsin has created the first Organic Task Force in this state. I feel honored that the Secretary of Agriculture has invited me to sit on this inaugural 12-person committee whose purpose is "to counsel the Secretary of Agriculture, the Governor, the Legislature, and other state agencies on actions that will further the organic industry in the state." I am looking forward to attending these task force meetings this winter.