Farmer in Winter 2

We found out yesterday that Burley farmer Mitchel Searle is one busy guy during what many think is the off-season for a farmer. Not so… “So this is a wheel-line driver for sprinkler irrigation. It's probably 30, 40, we have some that are 50 years old. And the main gear was worn out. And so we got that replaced. The other thing you do in the winter is manage these potato storages. So you've got to be in there inspecting them, making sure the temperature is right. And then when they come to get your potatoes, oftentimes you'll need to be here to help them. We run 36 inch spud rows and we go through them in the winter. Tear out the primaries, work on the rollers, put new clips, bearings, and you just go through. We've got a kind of a maintenance program that we do.” Then there are the countless improvement projects. Off season vacations are still just a fantasy for Searle. But maybe one day… “if you're not going to be trying to get ahead, doing the maintenance, you gotta do the maintenance sometime. So when is the time to do it?” The winter season is the busy season for farmers like Searle.