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Blizzard causes problems during calving for North Iowa farmer

A northern Iowa cow/calf producer says blizzard conditions have caused problems during calving.

Jason Kohlhass of Lu Verne tells Brownfield up to 10 inches of snow over the weekend was blown around by 40 to 50 mile-per-hour winds Sunday.

“The south side (of his farm) took the brunt of the snow, and I tried moving snow on the north side a couple times but it just kept drifting back in so I kind of gave up on it and hopefully everybody is safe inside.”

With about 30 calves on the ground, he says they’re not even halfway through winter calving.

“We have a 40’x30′ room with heated pens in it that we can bring cows up in for after they calve or when they’re calving. But it’s catching them and knowing when Mother Nature is going to drop them on the ground and making sure they’re safe inside.”

Kohlhass has plenty of feed on-hand, but he says getting it to his cattle has been difficult because of the snow.