How A Central New York Farm Is Responding To Brutal Winter Conditions This Year

CAMILLUS, N.Y. — (CITRUSTV NEWS) This winter, Onondaga County has received over ten feet of snow.

This abnormal amount of snow is not just affecting residents but farms as well.

At the Twin Brook Farm in Camillus, New York, winter is always a rough time of year. However, this year, Owner Craig Kennedy says they are facing a new challenge that has never presented itself like this before.

“We lost a lot of eggs because they get hard as a rock; it’s so cold in there. So that’s an issue we had to deal with this year that we didn’t in the past,” Kennedy said.

The Farm has been open since the 1900’s, but because less costumers during the winter season can buy eggs, they are losing a significant amount of revenue. Kennedy says they have to find new ways to adapt.

“What we do now is we have to go out at around dusk and close the door on the chickens so that they and the eggs stay warm,”Kennedy said.

ESF professor Christine Georgakakos owns what she calls a “hobby farm,” a farm that she has for fun rather than for profit. However, she’s noticed how these weather conditions are uniquely hurting farms.

“We are seeing these like really big swings in temperature and precipitation, and like farms see the brunt of that. I think any farmer you talk to is going to say yeah, we see differences that I see today than from 10, 15, or 20 years ago,” Georgakakos said.

Georgakakos says the only way farms can survive through the tough winter months is to become dynamic, adapt, and pivot to these winter conditions that don’t look like they’re going
anywhere soon.

Reporter: Ben Ross