It's been a record-breaking cold winter so far, but while most of us are looking forward to spring many farmers are less than optimistic about what's to come.

Farmers at the London Farm Show on Thursday, say they are hoping Mother Nature will change course.

Ralph Kuebler understands the unpredictability of the farming business - which relies heavily on the weather.

"We can do everything right and Mother Nature will throw us a wrench and says 'Nope, you got it wrong.'"

Like many farmers in Ontario, Kuebler grows the main cereal crops like corn, soy beans and wheat, which will be the most affected by the harsh winter.

Farmers know that a warm and dry spring brings the best yields, but this year the large accumulation of snow and frost will likely bring a delayed planting season, and that could put the growing season in doubt.

"You've got to wait until the fields are ready, you can't go into it. So if everything's later, that means the growing season is shorter, as a result so the yields will be lower," Kuebler says.

The frozen lakes are also a problem. Ice cover on the Great Lakes is at its second highest ever recorded: 91 per cent.

"I think it's only four times in the past the lakes have been frozen over. One of the concerns I see is that the fields will be ready to plant, we might get a north wind...and we might get a frost and certain commodities are out the ground and they get damages."

Kuebler adds that would mean the crops have to be replanted.

For Kathryn Doan, who owns a turkey farm just south of Woodstock, the harsh winter has taken a different toll - she's running low on propane.

"You have to heat your barns in order to keep poultry, us specifically, turkeys at a level of comfort."

But she's also looking on the bright side, "Hopefully with this cold weather it's killed a lot of the bugs and hopefully we'll have some natural resistance to some of the pests that we maybe would see with a milder winter."

And though the full effect of this record-breaking winter remains to be seen, Doan has her fingers crossed.

"Given we've had such a harsh winter, [I hope] the spring will go easy on us!"