(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- McHenry County is trying to get more farmers to buy into the idea of leaving up "living snow fences" near roads, in order to protect roads from blowing and drifting snow.
McHenry County has been trying for 10 years to get a "living snow fence" program going.
According to Ed Markison, maintenance superintendent for the county's Division of Transportation, last year three farmers took part in the program.
"Living snow fences" typically are 12 rows of unharvested corn.
"Everybody's seen how a regular snow fence works, that snow catches on the back side of it. But, what's really cool about the living snow fence is all that snow gets caught in the rows," Markison explains.
Markison says living snow fence programs are found in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska. He says Minnesota has more than 360 farmers in its program and pays $1,600 to $1,800 an acre.
That's why, this year, McHenry County is offering farmers $2,000 an acre to fall in line.
Markison says the living snow fences protect roads from blowing and drifting snow and saves on the need to put down as much salt to melt the snow. Salt can also impact aquifers underground and, ultimately, the county's water supply.
The $2,000-an-acre payment comes out to about $2 a foot, which saves the county money in putting up fences, Markison said. He says labor and materials for putting up snow fences costs $3.83 a foot.
"We're just trying to do everything possible here in McHenry County to make it as safe for the traveling public and for the environment," he said.
His office is working with the McHenry County Farm Bureau to try to get more farmers to buy into the program.
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