Looping in the Winter

Weather conditions affect so much of our lives, especially as farmers. As a Loop farmer, you will experience unique challenges with feeding your animals fresh food in the winter. Freezing and thawing conditions make food storage much more difficult. But here are some helpful tips on how to make feeding Loop food in the winter easier.

Sorting in the Winter 

In the summer, the main priority is to keep food fresh in the hot weather. In the winter the freezing conditions tend to keep things fresh for you. Sorting into five-gallon buckets and then letting them freeze until the night before you need to use them works well. Some people feed their animals frozen food with no issues, while others may need to thaw the buckets before dumping them out for the animals. 

Unless you have a heated shop, garage, or another place to thaw your food, this can be difficult. One way that works great is to turn an old chest freezer into a warming station. With a utility bulb hung inside it created just enough heat to thaw any food you place in it overnight. In the morning all you have to do is dump out the thawed food for your furry or feathered friends to enjoy!

You can see in the image below that all the produce is sorted into five-gallon pails, and a few of them have yogurt containers on top that can be quickly dumped into the pail before feeding.

Proper Storage 

In the winter, it's easy to fall into the habit of just heaping your Loop load somewhere outside until you need to feed it out.  However, it is important to properly store your loads even if they aren’t going to go bad.

Remember to keep meat and deli separate from any vegetables and baked goods. And to keep all of it away from your animals, or wild animals, until you are ready to feed it out. Find a place where you can store the frozen food that your animals cannot get into - you don’t want your animals to be eating things they shouldn’t!

If you do have a heated place to store your loads in the winter, you probably are able to just continue sorting the same way you would in the summer, since you are not dealing with the changing weather in the same ways. 

Seasonal Foods

Around Christmas time especially you will most likely receive wreaths, trees, or other greenery in your loads - use caution when introducing them to your animals. Some wreaths and trees are sprayed with chemicals such as fire retardants, colors, or dyes, and should not be fed to your animals or used as bedding. Reach out to us if you’re not sure!

If you do receive trees, and wreaths that have been sprayed, there are other things you can do with them - some of those wreaths will still be in great condition. You are very welcome to decorate your home, give them to neighbors, and friends, or even make a trip to a local charity or old folks home to bring joy to others. 

You also can use them in your chicken coops as scent control and bedding for your birds! And if they aren’t sprayed goats and sheep often love a good Christmas tree to chow down on!

You may also receive other seasonal foods that your animals aren’t used to. This doesn’t mean it needs to go to waste! Slowly incorporate more and more of it into their diet mixed with other foods, and they will become accustomed to it. 

Winter Pick-Ups: Challenges and Opportunities

Driving in the winter can be dangerous at times. Road conditions can deteriorate quickly and make any sort of travel difficult. Your safety is our top priority. If you are unable to make it to your pickup because of weather conditions let us know as soon as possible and we will work with you to get your pickup covered. 

Around Christmas time, expect and plan to be picking up larger loads than normal - the stores order lots for their customers’ holiday feasts and some of it goes unsold. You may want to think of a backup plan in case you end up with more than you can take, and communicate with Loop whenever things change. 

While at the store, please stay safe and warm and try to help the employees there do the same. Get your winter clothing on before ringing the bell so you’re ready to go right away. If possible, try to do your pickups quickly so that the door is only open when you’re there. And please try to turn off your vehicle so that the exhaust doesn’t make anyone in the store sick.

Sometimes you may also need to accommodate picking up greenery, trees, and wreaths for the stores. They may not be able to bring them to the back for you because of food-safe reasons. Being accommodating to pick up some items at the front of the store will help build good relationships with the stores.

Each season with Loop is different, and it’s always exciting to see the different products we receive in the winter, spring, summer, and fall! Being prepared and having a plan in place is a great start but, as always, reach out to us or to your local Loop community on Facebook (or even better, at your town coffee shop!) to ask questions and get tips for handling winter pickups. 

Stay warm, Loopers!

And if you want to read all about Looping in the Summer click here!