HOKKAIDO, March 21 — Farmers in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, are busy spreading snow-melting agents on their fields to prepare for spring plowing.
Wheel ruts created on the snow-covered fields by tractors offer a rare view of a “one-stroke sketch” patterns that can be seen only in early spring.
One morning at 6 a.m. when the temperature hit minus 10 degrees Celsius, members of Tap Factory, a company in the city that produces rice and wheat on land totaling some 150 hectares, set out to do the work.
Using tractors, they spread over the fields shatter-resistant, snow-melting calcium carbonate fertilizers containing carbon black.
Wheel ruts slowly turn black and snow starts melting under the heat of the sun.
In Iwamizawa, one of Japan’s heaviest snowfall areas, farmers take measures to accelerate snow melting so that they can start plowing as early as possible.
After spreading snow-melting agents, it takes roughly a month for the soil to be exposed.
According to JA Iwamizawa, a local agricultural cooperative, spreading of snow-melting agents starts in late February and continues until around mid-March.
“I feel that the busy farming season is approaching,” said Yoshiki Kaneta, 49, head of Tap Factory. “We hope to deliver high-quality farm produce to consumers again this year.”
Black patterns appear on snowy fields in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, after farmers spread snow-melting agents with tractors.