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Mild winter creates ag transportation problems

A northern Wisconsin dairy and crop farmer says the unusually warm winter weather is causing transportation problems.  Ben Augustine farms near Sheldon, Wisconsin, where by now, there is usually a lot of snow and a deep frost… but not this year. “Even before this, there wasn’t much frost under the roads.”

Augustine tells Brownfield many local governments have placed weight limits on town and county roads almost two months earlier than normal to protect the roads, which means farmers like him and loggers are struggling to move products to market. “Oh, yeah. I’ve got to lighten up my loads for hauling milk, massively lighten them up from 98 to 80 thousand (pounds) to let me go. That’s another four loads a week to the plant for me so that presents more costs I don’t really expect.”

Augustine says this winter is very different and very expensive because of the mild temperatures.