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When Norm Berning and the rest of the Hoosier State sprang ahead into daylight saving time Sunday morning, he did so for the fourth time since Indiana switched in 2006.
And even though the sixth-generation Allen County dairyman lost an hour, the 80-some cows he milks twice a day didn’t.
"The cows aren’t looking at no clock," the 53-year-old Berning said.
So Sunday morning Berning, started milking at 7 a.m. – an hour later than normal, according to the clock, but the same time as usual as far as his cows were concerned.
As Hooisers have gradually adjusted to the time change that brought the state’s clocks into sync with the rest of the Eastern Time Zone, some farmers, who depend on daylight perhaps more than anyone else, have found the extra hour of evening daylight has changed the way they work – to an extent.
Richard Fritz, the president of the Allen County Farm Bureau, said many farmers were wary of the time change at first.
What difference does daylight saving make to people who rise with or before the sun?
But in its fourth year, daylight saving time passed among farmers he knows with only a reminder to reset clocks.
Sure, daylight saving time means kissing goodbye daylight during the morning milking in the spring and longer work hours after dinner, but that’s mostly mental, Berning said.
Farmers usually have to work each daylight hour just to stay ahead of their debts, Fritz said, regardless of whether dusk falls at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.
"You really don’t work the clock, you work with the light hours," Fritz said. "You pay less attention to the clock."
