Planning For Your Farm’s Next Heatwave
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Summer time is the same each year. Over the course of a few months, the weather will make some drastic changes, going from being pleasantly mild to scorchingly hot. Of course, in normal conditions, this is absolutely fine, and can even be a benefit to businesses like farms, even if it makes working harder. When a heatwave comes, though, it can all be turned on its head. To help you out with this tricky time of year on your farm, this post will be exploring the preparation which can be done to make sure that the whole farm stays in working order.
The Animals
The first area to consider is the livestock you keep, from the smallest chickens to the largest cows. All animals have a certain degree of sensitivity to heat, with mammals, like sheep and cows, struggling the most when the going gets hot. During a period of extreme weather, your animals shouldn’t be left outside, as this could make them very sick. Instead, you should make sure that they have plenty of shade, while also providing them with a barn to escape the temperature entirely. Most farms will already have this kind of resource available.
Cows and other large animals are well known for their ability to consume huge amounts of water. When the sun is in the sky, they will need this precious resource more than ever, but it could be hard for you to provide this if there is a shortage. When it hasn’t rained for a while, your local supplies could start to dry up. Thankfully, companies like Tanks Direct can help you to overcome this issue. Providing water tanks which can store all you need to keep your livestock happy, this is a great way to ensure that you don’t get stuck.
The Plants
With your animals sorted out, it will be time to turn your focus to the crops on your farm, including the grass your livestock relies on for food. During the summer months, this part of your place will get very dry. With no rain to water it for you, you will be stuck with the long job of touring the fields to give the plants what they need. To solve this issue and take away this work, a simple irrigation system could be all you need to keep your flora healthy. They will water the whole place for you, and won’t even need you to press a button to get them started.
Some plants are much less tolerant of heat than others. For those which can’t deal with high temperatures, staying out in the open won’t be an option, and could spell doom for your chances of a good yield. Polytunnels are a great solution to this problem, providing more than one purpose; keep plants cool in the summer, and warm during the winter. This makes the work you do on them into preparations for the whole year, giving you a good deal of justification for this sort of product.
Extraordinary weather can often cause weird behaviour and patterns in a wide range of insects, and this can be a real pest to a farm owner. With heat waves often bring huge populations of bugs with them, your plants have to be protected, or they could end up being eaten by them. There are loads of environmentally friendly pesticides available on the market. By applying them to your plants at the start of their life, you will thwart the hungry attempts of scavenging creepy crawlies on your farm. Of course, though, this won’t stop all of the animals which could damage your plants.
The Ground
It doesn’t take very long for the ground to become rock hard when a heatwave is in the air. As water evaporates in the sun, the solid materials are left behind, losing their ability to quickly soak liquids back up. This can make it hard to use the land in the future, with a lot of modern machinery struggling to get through the hard outer layers. To help you out with this, it will be worth spending a little bit of time each day making sure that areas like this are kept moist. While it will use precious water, it could save loads when you don’t have to work to get the ground to soak it up.
Your Home
Finally, as the last area to consider, your home will always be a priority when it comes to keeping your farm safe during a heatwave. Your personal water supply will be one of the most important parts of this. Thankfully, the same tanks which you use for your livestock and plants can be aimed towards this purpose, with rainwater throughout the year building up to provide for your home when times get tough. It can be hard to get liquids to your place when there is a shortage, especially if you live in a remote place.
Along with keeping your home well watered, it will also be worth thinking about the chance of fire impacting it. Around the world, wildfires have been becoming increasingly common, often leaving farms at the mercy of the elements. To solve this issue, several companies have come out with their own products which promise to protect your home in the case of fire. Walls of water tend to be the best option, creating a barrier which fire simply can’t penetrate, all while being easy to put together when the time calls for it.
Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start preparing for your next heatwave. This sort of extreme weather is very hard to deal with when you’re trying to run a farm, with a lot of your work being disrupted when the things get heated. It doesn’t have to be this way, though, as long as you’re willing to put the effort into preparing the place for it. If you need further help with this, most governments will offer free advice to farmers who are struggling to keep their place running during times of great heat.
