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Located on the outskirts of the University of Maine, most people don’t know Witter Farm exists, let alone where it is. You choose how you want to get there, by the bike path, the access road or the University Farm Road, you can find the Witter Teaching and Research Farm sitting atop its hill that overlooks the surrounding Marsh Island area. In the early morning, the cows are being milked and the chores are getting started. From its hilltop seat, morning runners can be seen on the bike path. Occasionally, ROTC cadets are found marching in formation up and down the hill as part of their early morning physical training.
In the frigid winter months, life seems to slow down for a while. When students step outside for the first class, their nostrils instantly freeze in minus 20 degree wind chill. Many have the luxury of returning to their warm rooms.
However, the animals at Witter Farm don’t allow their farm hands to yield to the death grip of winter. Milk must be produced, the calves have to be fed, and the horse stalls need to be cleaned.
The general student population understands how to handle themselves in Maine winters. Gas tanks are kept over half full, there is a shovel in the trunk, they bundle up beyond recognition, and realize that if it is too cold, they have the choice to stay in bed. But how do the friendly folks at the farm cope with this time of year? After all, the cows don’t take a break.
Katie Martin, a junior nursing student who keeps her horse at the farm during the school year, said that the freezing temperature have made watering the animals difficult.
“Do you want to know how many hoses we went through so far this winter?” she asked. “Four.”
The general consensus is that this is the biggest problem that winter presents. Barn Manager Justin Jamison said they prevent pipes from freezing by wrapping them with a large amount of insulation. He added that sometimes even that isn’t enough.
“We have automatic waterers for the animals, when those freeze up it is never a good thing,” he said. “It’s a never ending battle with the cold.”
The livestock seems to be dealing quite well. The horses are blanketed, the calves are kept inside the insulated barn, and the cows in the milking barn looked unfazed by the cold. Jamison said that keeping warm was a group effort.
“When you have 35 cows together in a closed barn they do a pretty good job of keeping it warm,” he said. “And as for the cows in the heifer barn, if the wind isn’t blowing on them they are as happy as can be.”
Livestock assistant Marsha Hamilton said that there was another reason these animals stay so comfortable.
“As long as the cows are fed enough, they keep themselves warm. Their stomachs are tubs of fermentation that create a lot of heat,” she said.
The combination of the cows “tubs of fermentation” and their thick winter coat kept even the cows outside comfortable in the bitter cold. They are not just standing and shivering, but walking around and going about their business.
Still, in order for things to operate smoothly, proper planning is essential. For the farm on the outskirts of UMaine that sits atop its own hill, the winter months, despite how many problems could arise, are not that bad. If plugging the machinery in overnight or getting up a half hour earlier to start chores is what it takes to keep a steady flow to operations, then Witter Farm has things under control.
Bangor Daily News