Maybe Saskatchewan's (Dairy Cows Are) On To Something After All

Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada that doesn't observe daylight saving time and the commonly accepted wisdom here is that the reason for this decision has to do with the fact that the time swap would be hugely disruptive to dairy cows – which apparently don't exist elsewhere in Canada.   (Oh, and in the interest of accuracy, according to that linked article, Saskatchewan does observe daylight saving time – we just stay “sprung ahead” all year round without “falling back”.  This is apparently due to conservation measures enacted during the war then never switching back to a rotating schedule like everywhere else, again, because of those damned dairy cows.)

(On another side note, I take an inordinate amount of pride when I am setting up any piece of software or registering with any web site that allows me to identify Saskatchewan as a unique time zone – not Mountain, not Central.  Of course, that's offset by any piece of software or web site that doesn't realise we don't do the daylight savings time dance twice per year and forces me to choose one or the other time zone.)

Anyhow, it turns out that those dairy cows are apparently much smarter than we give them credit for and the reasons for having daylight savings time may actually have a negative environmental impact overall.

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