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When temperatures drop around Esko, Cloquet, and Duluth, your horse’s feeding needs can change. The hay that maintained their weight through fall may not provide enough energy during a stretch of bitter cold. Many horses need additional hay in winter, but the amount depends on their body condition, forage quality, coat, and shelter. Here’s how to evaluate your feeding routine before simply adding another scoop of grain. Why Do Horses Need More Feed in Cold Weather? Horses bur

Nobody wants to start morning chores by discovering the stock tank has turned into a skating rink. Here in northern Minnesota, frozen water can quickly become a daily frustration. Whether you care for horses, cattle, sheep, or goats, preparing your watering equipment now can make winter chores easier—and help keep clean drinking water available when temperatures drop. At Widdes Feed & Farm in Esko, we carry Ritchie waterers and replacement parts, along with tank heaters and d

If you raise backyard chickens in Minnesota, you've probably noticed something once fall rolls around: fewer eggs in the nesting boxes. As the days get shorter and temperatures start dropping, it's common for hens to slow down their egg production. But why does it happen, and what can you do to keep your flock healthy throughout the colder months? At Widdes Feed & Farm in Esko, Minnesota, we're here to help you prepare your flock for another Northland winter. Less Daylight Me

Minnesota winters can be tough on backyard flocks. Chickens are hardy, but frozen water, moisture, drafts, and cold-weather feeding can make winter care more difficult. A little preparation before temperatures drop can make winter much easier for both you and your flock. Stop Drafts, But Keep Ventilation Avoid sealing the coop completely. Chickens produce moisture through breathing and manure, and trapped moisture can increase frostbite risk and hurt air quality. Block direct

There’s something about fall that makes us start checking things off the list. Maybe even begin the "why did I say I'd do EVERYTHING in the fall" panic. Hay is being put up, fences are getting one last look, animals are growing their winter coats, and everyone is preparing for the long months ahead. While we’re thinking about cooler temperatures and winter chores, parasites may still be quietly taking advantage of your livestock. After a long grazing season, animals have spen

Growing a great crop is only half the job. The other half is figuring out where—and how—you are going to sell it. Many of us farmers enjoy this as much as shopping at the mall or posting on social media at the end of a long day. For small and medium-sized farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin, there are more options than simply selling a harvest to the first available buyer. Farmers markets, on-farm sales, online ordering, wholesale accounts, restaurants, and value-added products

As a farmer, this seems like the craziest concept. Things never end OR when you think the day's finally wrapped up something breaks down, escapes, or needs more attention. As we prepare to enter into the fall season, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of a few simple truths. There is a funny thing that happens when we really care about something: we start doing more. More fertilizer, amendments, and pruning. More products, equipment and passes across the field. More tre

For generations, farms have been places of hard work, early mornings, and long days that most folks never get to see. Even in the late 1900's, even those in urban areas, had some family member that farmed...it wasn't fun to go visit as that meant a work-cation. Flash forward to now-a-days, many aren't sure how veggies are grown, why buying brown eggs over white eggs doesn't make them organic and have no one in the extended family that farms. Today, however, more farmers are

If you've looked across the fields lately and thought, "Boy, we could sure use a good rain," you're not alone. Across much of the Midwest, farmers are watching the skies a little more closely this summer. Pastures are turning brown sooner than we'd like, hay yields are lighter, and every weather app gets checked just one more time before bed. While our current dry spell is concerning, it also serves as a reminder of one of the greatest agricultural disasters in American histo

There is something almost magical about a county fair. Maybe it is the smell of fresh-cut hay mixing with mini donuts or the sound of a tractor pull echoing across the fairgrounds while kids race toward the midway with sticky cotton candy fingers. For some, it's seeing generations of the same family sitting side by side in the grandstands, cheering for neighbors they have known their entire lives. For many of us in the Midwest, the county fair is not just another summer event

What a year this is...from trying to decide if we just lay the grass down for a natural fertilizer since the costs were so high in 2026, some in desperate need of hay for the upcoming winter months, others with TONS left from the previous year or two, while other parts of the country are in a second round of drought and hay season looks dismal. For something that is so embedded into our farm life normality, this year has been one roller coaster ride of...fun?! Unfortunately,

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, it's easy to think about famous moments in history-founding fathers, westward expansion, railroads, and industry. But one story has quietly been woven through every chapter of our nation's history: The story of the American farmer. For 250 years, farmers have fed a growing country through wars, droughts, depressions, technological revolutions, and changing generations. They've weathered floods, hailstorms, early frosts, late springs,

If you've grown up around farming communities, you've probably heard the following says and have some of your own to share: -Knee high by the 4th of July. -Never plant before Memorial Day. -Smells like rain, the flies are biting, or my knee hurts, so it's gonna be a doozy. -Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. -Ring around the Moon? Rain or snow real soon. Walk into almost any farmhouse in the Midwest and there's a good chance you'll fi

For those outside of agriculture, it can be hard to understand. Most people associate summertime as a season of rest, travel, weddings, cookouts, and time on the lake. A chill break from the bump and grind of their jobs and family schedules during the school season. "You aren't going to see me much this week." For farming families, those words are a common phrase and mean more than a busy week of summer fun ahead. They signal the start of a season. Whether it's planting, hayi

Farmer Fatigue: The Hazard We Don't Talk About Let's be honest—around the Midwest, being tired is almost a badge of honor. Someone says they worked until midnight, and somebody else chimes in that they didn't get home until 2 a.m. Another woke up the Rooster still sleeping at 4am. We swap stories about long days, short nights, surviving on coffee and true grit. Sometimes we don't even admit we're tired because we don't want to sound soft. But here's the thing: fatigue isn't

What Are You Really Paying For? Soy-Free. Corn-Free. Hormone-Free. Antibiotic-Free. GMO-Free. At first glance, it's easy to assume these labels automatically mean "better." After all, if a feed is free from something, that something must have been bad, right? Well... not always. In fact, some of these labels represent meaningful production choices, while others are simply describing practices that are already standard in the industry. As we've discussed throughout this series

The Protein Debate There are few things in agriculture more guaranteed to turn a simple feed conversation into a full-blown debate than soy. For some folks, soybean meal is one of the best tools ever developed for livestock nutrition. For others, it’s become the ingredient they specifically try to avoid. And somewhere in the middle sits the average farmer—just trying to figure out: what actually works what makes financial sense and whether the newest feed trend is genuinely u

Buzzword or Benefit? Spend about five minutes in a modern feed conversation and odds are somebody will eventually bring up GMOs. Usually right around the same time: someone mentions seed prices somebody else starts talking about chemicals and an old farmer in the corner quietly mutters: “Well… the cows still look hungry to me.” And honestly? That’s because the term “Non-GMO” has become one of the biggest labels in modern agriculture—yet also one of the most misunderstood. Som

What’s the Real Difference? Walk into any feed store these days and you’ll see it immediately: Organic. Conventional. Natural. Premium. Clean. Non-GMO. At some point, buying feed starts to feel less like feeding livestock and more like trying to decode a cereal box written by a marketing department. And honestly? We understand why people get overwhelmed. Farmers today care deeply about what goes into their animals. Whether you’re feeding cattle, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep,

Walk into any feed store (or scroll online for five minutes), and you’ll see it: Organic. Non-GMO. Soy-Free. Conventional. All-Natural. It starts to feel less like buying feed… and more like trying to decode a secret language. Here’s the truth: Most of these labels weren’t created for the animals, they were created for people. Now, that doesn’t make them bad. Some labels reflect meaningful production practices. Others help farmers access premium markets. And some? Well… some