Cold weather survival stories have always fascinated me. From the 1970’s Uruguayan soccer team in "Alive" to the late 1800's frontier's men in "Yellowstone Kelly", or the early 20th century Arctic explorers chronicled in "Endurance", the will to live emerges as a resourceful problem solver.                 

When faced with death or improvisation, we can rediscover a resilience and adaptability our earliest ancestors practiced daily. There was a time when mankind lived naked, gave birth unassisted, and experienced the trauma of life as the feral creatures we were. We lived and thrived in weather conditions modernity considers fatal.  

On this January morning, typing in my tastefully decorated, optimally illuminated, ergonomically arranged, climate controlled work space, I ponder the unintended consequence of our obsession to make life comfortable.     

At Pinicon Farm, we make no apologies for improving working conditions for our Team year round.  

Seventeen thousand square ft. heated shop plus two thousand square ft. wash bay allow for uninterrupted winter maintenance.  

A diversified snow removal fleet of tractors, trucks and skid loaders can clear all parking areas, hog sites, bin sites, houses, and service roads in a 24 hour period safely and comfortably.

The heated shop has adequate room to bring essential machinery inside when temps go below zero. What once was a half day cage match of jumper cables, battery charges and starting fluid has been reduced to turning a key and opening the overhead doors.           

Most of the hog barns either have standing corn snow fence or the plastic facsimile. North facing ground level pit fans have been relocated to the end walls. The incidence of excess snow accumulation on the north side of the barns which can bury fans and collapse curtains is infrequent.     

Personal vehicle and pickup parking areas are cleared prior to storms to expedite removal of snow and avoid need to extricate buried vehicles. Give Ben credit for implementing this practice.

Office space was upgraded in 2019, adding workstations to improve Team access to IT. This facilitated implementation of an inventory management system that assists finding, restocking, purchasing and monitoring usage of over 3,000 items.

All hog site managers and maintenance staff drive newer, company owned, full size, 4 wheel drive pickups equipped with grille guards, log chains and jumper cables. These men are expected to check each site daily regardless of weather conditions. Investing in the safety and reliability of their vehicles was greatly appreciated.   

Even though I am quick to point out the lack of adversity and hardship in contemporary society, at Pinicon we are taking advantage of every innovation available that will improve working conditions and personal productivity. 

Unlike the polar explorers and mountain men of yore, surviving winter at Pinicon isn't about not dying. It’s about finding creative ways to move our company forward.

Jim