Hazards of Farming in Extreme Cold

We know that work goes on for a lot of folks despite cold temps and farmers are among the people who have to keep at it, especially if they have livestock. This winter’s extreme cold in many areas of the upper Midwest was something I was watching on TV news and Twitter when something came up that grabbed my attention & personalized the weather. It was from my friend David Brand (Twitter) who has a dairy farm in Indiana. David had been up since 3 a.m. or so and had chatted about the weather, etc before a simple mid-morning tweet popped up:

http://twitter.com/#!/BrandFarms/status/29200078371553280

OUCH! It hurt to read it! Frostbite on your hands? My hands hurt in sympathy at the very idea. And I probably did the same thing most people would do. I wondered how it could happen. I mean David’s not new to farming in winter and he knows basic safety etc so I asked what he was thinking! He said despite wearing gloves he had red spots on his hands. 

The conversation is the same sort of thing you’ve heard from others, just didn’t realize. I’ve had the same problem. Safety and health problems seem to come up when someone gets comfortable… that’s so easy to do when you are going about your regular work routine.

@JPlovesCOTTON The frostbite does look kinda bad tho. Same redness on both hands. http://yfrog.com/h3phatj

— David Brand (@BrandFarms) January 23, 2011

So, I had to ask what he would do next. And the answer was put some lotion and salve on it and protect himself better the next time. What followed next was others making suggestions on gloves (I love twitter!)

http://twitter.com/#!/BrandFarms/statuses/29239976289894401

Fellow dairy farmer Emily Zweber (Twitter, blog) spoke up saying “I have these Awesome waterproof fleece gloves from Gander Mountain. -20 and still have warm hands.” And jealousy struck Alec Winmill (Twitter) who replied “I was moving snow yesterday with ‘choppers’- leather mittens w/liners..hands got numb. I need those!” And David said he had some waterproof leather gloves from Carhartt he probably should have worn.

Since I’ll soon be headed north, what else do I need to think about as far as protection against the cold? I’m looking for products you’ve used that work well for you!