How farmers help keep snow from taking over Franklin County’s roads

As the winter months creep in and the inevitable snow blows over the roads, the Franklin County Engineer’s Office is asking some farmers to accept an important mission.

It pays for them to leave parts of their cornstalks standing to act as a makeshift fence to stop snow from drifting onto county roads.

Jason Glick, county highway maintenance superintendent, said this method of stopping snow is less expensive than having crews build snow fences each fall and take them down in the spring. It would also be impractical for crews to fan out and build fences throughout the county due to its size.

“The snow fence takes a lot of man hours and equipment,” Glick said. The county has partnered with farmers for the initiative since 2000, when former engineer Dean Ringle learned about the practice from farmers in Iowa. Franklin County was the first county in Ohio to use the method.

Franklin County farmers participating in the program receive $50 per acre for their corn stalks, with an acre defined as 218 feet long and 200 feet wide. The corn stalks must be at least 1 ½ feet tall, with 2 feet tall preferred, and remain in the fields through March, according to the contract. In an average year, cornstalks protect 6 miles of county roads from snow drifts, Glick said.

More than 40 farmers will participate in the program this winter. Most of the farms are located along county roads in townships including Brown, Jackson, Pleasant and Prairie, although some are near suburban cities such as Dublin and Grove City.

How much money does the county save?

According to the cost breakdown provided by Glick, the county is saving over $350,000 by using farmers’ corn stalks as makeshift fences.

The cost of constructing and then deconstructing actual snow fencing across the county, at $5.03 per foot, would cost the county a total of $357,366.45, which includes labor and equipment.

By comparison, farmers are paid $50 per acre and county commissioners have approved spending up to $20,000 for the program this year.

John Hummel, 33, owns a farm in the southeast corner of Franklin County, near Canal Winchester. Hummel participated in the county program in 2022 and received a couple of hundred dollars. For Hummel, it wasn’t much of an extra task.

“We already did that, so it wasn’t a problem for us,” Hummel said of leaving some corn stalks behind. — It also saves the county the trouble of putting up a fence.

While Hummel was excited to participate in 2022, he said he is unsure if he will do so this year because he is considering changing their tillage practices.

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@ShahidMeighan