Taranaki storms and the affect upon farms

The weather bomb that struck the west coast of the lower North Island has affected a number of farms. The priority is animal welfare, especially stock access to drinking water.

"Can I first thank Powerco for not just the work they're doing to reconnect affected homes, farms and businesses, but the proactive contact they initiated with us," Says Derek Gibson, Federated Farmers Taranaki Dairy chairperson.

"For some farms electricity could be out for the next day or so and that means affected farms will not be able to reticulate water for stock to drink. While it sounds odd, given the storm we've just had, most surface water will now be absorbed and troughs will start to run dry.

"It's why I'd like to ask the help of the media to communicate the following.

"The Hawera Volunteer Fire Brigade has kindly offered to transport stock water to those farms without electricity. We'd ask that only those farms that have genuine concern for their stock to contact Hawera's chief fire officer, Darryl Fowler, on 0272 919 673.

"Text alerts from Federated Farmers and from DairyNZ will be going out as well.

"For affected farms too far from Harewa, they can call Federated Farmers 0800 FARMING line (0800 327 646), which has been diverted to our head of communications.

"0800 327 646 means farmers can ring in their needs so that we can build a better picture of just how widespread things are. If there is heavy call volume, please leave a message.

"While affected farms may not have normal internet access to check Powerco updates, most modern mobile phones are web capable. If you have such a phone, it's a good idea to use this feature to check the outages and faults page at www.powerco.co.nz.

"I can also offer assurance there is minimal risk to the environment from farms as a result of the storm.

"While farms like mine have had to divert milk into the nutrient pond, this will be recycled to land as nutrients when conditions permit.

"While it seems milking has been able to take place on many farms, using generators for instance, milk held at above 14 degrees Celsius cannot be processed. The storm also brought down a number of trees that we believe affected pickups, yesterday especially.

"There is no economic loss if a Fonterra supplier has to divert milk into a nutrient pond. Of course, the last thing anyone wishes to see is productive milk being safely disposed of in that way.

"Can I add that we know this storm has affected horticulture and forestry as well. We all need to knit together as we start adding up this storm's damage," Mr Gibson concluded.