Keeping our farms safe no matter what mother nature brings
posted on Thursday, January 7, 2016
A big shout out to our guys and gals whose entire day or week can be turned upside down by the arrival of snow. With nearly 700 farms located in rural Iowa, snow plowing can be a huge undertaking for our team. Here's to the 60 employees who bravely jump into trucks in the wee hours to plow out the driveways to our farms so they can be safely accessed by our animal caretakers, feed trucks, semis and goose neck drivers. And that’s not to mention our contracted snow removal crews and site managers who also work hard to help keep the sites plowed throughout the winter months.
Earlier in the day we caught up with Kyle, a member of the special projects crew, who spent his morning plowing out Sow 8, Sow 9, Kraft and Norway. Tomorrow and this weekend he'll plow out Sow 10, Greenfield 4 and Nursery 18 in the event of more snow.
“It’s amazing how everyone helps each other out,” said Kyle. “It’s a big team effort, especially if one farm is taking longer than expected. Others out plowing will come over to help out or tackle the remaining farms.”
And if it’s really bad for our trucks and plows, they call Don for the big rigs. Don, the shop manager at the nutrient management operations in Iowa Falls, has the tractors fueled up and truck sanders ready to go.
“At that point the phone tree begins, and we all work together to get the snow out of the way,” Don says. “When the guys call in to report they can’t unplug a site we organize a logistics plan for that farm and surrounding farms and get after it.”
So THANK YOU to all of the gilt development, sow, nursery and finishing supervisors, the special projects crew and members of the maintenance and nutrient management teams for keeping our employees safe and our animals well-cared for no matter what mother nature brings. Stay safe out there! #billionpounds
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