If you've thought finding rock salt or ice melt this winter has been more challenging than in years past, you're not wrong. Before our first January storm, I was looking for some all over Warrensburg. I stopped at the new Tractor Supply Company store, Walmart, Westlake Ace, and Lowe's. I was lucky to buy their last sad-looking bag at the Murphy Mart. Here's why stores don't have rock salt or ice melt, even if you're not a last-minute shopper.

Early Storms and Cold Weather Driving Demand

While our winter has been a little colder and snowier than the past couple of years, it's been more or less normal for Missouri. Yet, out east, it got cold early and stayed cold. This means municipalities have had to use more salt than in years past and salt for minor snow events that they might not have needed in other years, according to a press release from American Rock Salt addressing supply shortages.

American Rock Salt says their team has been in the salt mine 24 hours a day, 101 out of the last 113 days, including holidays, to satisfy the unprecedented demand. To put it in perspective, last year, they shipped 1.8 million tons of salt for the entire season. This winter through January, they've shipped over 2.1 tons of salt.

Nationwide Shortage of Ice Melt

According to an article on Mass Live, Nathaniel Hunter, general manager and owner of Hunter Environmental, a snow removal and excavation company in Massachusetts, blames supply chain issues. Much of the Mass Live story talks about retail shortages, and the stories of people trying to find ice melt in Massachusetts mirror the experience I had trying to find ice melt in Warrensburg and Sedalia.

Complicating matters, as we're getting into the later part of February, CBS News reports some big box stores are transitioning their inventories to the spring, thus leaving rock salt supplies low.

Other Ways To Take Care of That Icy Driveway

Depending on your motivation, there are some other ways you can take care of that icy driveway.

Almanac.com provides various other solutions if you're having a hard time finding rock salt, although, depending on your solution, some of these ideas might be more work than you want to put into it. Their solutions include rubbing alcohol, warm water, and dish soap solution, using Epsom salt combined with sugar, and even using natural fertilizer. You can read the article on Almanac.com for details on how to use these products to melt ice.

Can you use salt for the water softener in your driveway? According to Culligan, the short answer is yes, in a pinch. Yet, they don't recommend it. The larger salt crystals in water-softener salt dissolve more slowly, which may impact the rate at which your ice melts. Secondly, water softener salt will be less effective the more cold it is outside. Finally, water softener salt costs more than traditional rock salt, so it's not economically a great option.

Finally, Almanac.com recommends using abrasives like sand, sawdust, or old-fashioned non-clumping kitty litter if you can't find ice melt or don't want to try one of their other ice-melting solutions.

So, it has been harder to find rock salt or ice melt this year than in previous years.