Snow and STUFF

A phonecall from home and I became aware of the snow ...

I went searching and came across this story ... in STUFF, an interesting site for those wanting news of New Zealand.

The past three days have been hard slog ('hard work', for non-Kiwi readers) on Hugh and Diane Taylor's View Hill property.

And there is no rest in sight as the thick blanket of snow over their Raineys Road farm, west of Oxford, retreats painfully slowly.

It was only knee-deep yesterday – an improvement on the previous two days when it reached up their thighs. But the depth is of little consequence. It is still taking eight hours to feed just over 1000 cattle and 2500 breeding ewes, a task that normally takes an hour and a half.

Down on their feedlot they had to shovel snow out of the troughs for the grain-fed cattle whose meat is destined for Belgium and Spain. It was a gut-wrenching task digging, but the only way to ensure the penned cattle got a good belly full of food.