Day: January 6, 2026

That’s how a dairy farmer once told me to look at the winter, as they count the loads of box manure spread on fields until it warms enough for spring tillage and ultimately planting come the warmth and greens of May.

The land has a tangy, sharp smell of cow during this time period in Upstate farm country. Is it a bad smell? I don’t know, it’s the smell of land working, nutrition and fertilizer returned to the land that will continue to support the cattle that produce the milk, the cheese, the beef, fats and meats that are important to both us humans and the livihoods of those who farm it.

Winters really are long in Upstate New York. The months of brown and gray – some days with blue skies – and others with ice and snow are long. The greens of summer are short, what seems like days while the dead kill of frost and winter are long.