Vermont Dairy Farms Still Not Being Reached
Milk haulers still have not been able to reach at least four dairy farms in Vermont because of washed out roads and bridges due to Hurricane Irene, reports Doug DiMento, spokesperson for Cabot Cheese in Montpelier, Vert.
Reports of an entire herd being lost near Middleburgh, New York proved erroneous, adds DiMento. The herd of 121 animals was removed from the barn before it was swept away by flash flooding. But about 30 heifers and calves bolted away, followed the barn and subsequently drowned, he says. A neighbor also lost his facility, but not his cattle.
The National Guard in Vermont has been working to clear roads of trees and restore roads and bridges. But it likely will be several more days until roads, and especially washed out bridges, are restored. Major freeways have now re-opened, allowing processors to move finished dairy products to supermarkets.
“Our milk haulers have done an exceptional job of logging extra miles around washed out bridges and roads to reach farms,” says DiMento. “But everything is still off schedule as milk deliveries into plants have been delayed.”
The one saving grace in all of this might have been an ice storm in 1999. Following that storm, Cabot instituted a loan program for dairy farms to purchase back-up electrical generators. Many chose to do so, which allowed them to milk cows and cool milk following Irene.
The worst damage from Hurricane Irene has been eastern New York and central and western Vermont. Damage has been relatively minor in Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. Two farms in Maine had to dump milk for a day or two.
