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Corn stalks provide snow drift protection in Central Ohio

The Franklin County Ohio “natural snow fence” program is back for a 17^th year.

The county pays farmers to leave some of their corn standing in the field, as a way to prevent snow from accumulating on adjacent roadways. Amy Lowe is a spokeswoman for the Franklin County Engineers Office.

“We use a natural snow fence in areas where we know there’s going to be drifting. The farming community is hired to leave corn stalks in their fields approximately one and a half feet high after they harvest and the height of the stalks reduces the amount of snow drifting on to the roads,” says Lowe.

Lowe tells Brownfield participants are paid $50 dollars an acre and it costs the county about $30,000 dollars a year.

“For us, that’s actually a huge cost savings. For the amount of roadway that we’d need to protect it saves us about $140,000 of materials, installation, labor set up and tear down of the traditional snow fence,” says Lowe.

Thirty-six farmers are participating in the program this year which will cover 20 miles of roadside. The Ohio Department of Transportation says they had a similar program in northern Ohio in 2010 but that program was discontinued.

Audio: Amy Lowe, Franklin County Engineers Office