Gippsland power outage: Dairy farmers unable to milk cows

Dairy farmers in storm-ravaged Gippsland have been left unable to milk because of power outages, raising the prospect of herd welfare issues.

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Stressed-out dairy farmers have spent a sleepless night waiting for power to be put back on across storm-ravaged Gippsland, concerned at the long-term impacts of being unable to milk cows on their production and herd welfare.

About 200,000 AusNet customers had lost power by yesterday morning, of whom 105,000 had been reconnected by this evening.

But AusNet media spokeswoman Helina Lilley said the power was still out for another 93,000 customers.

The loss of mobile reception across some parts of Gippsland has made it difficult to ascertain exactly how many dairy farmers are still without power.

But United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Paul Mumford did manage to get a text through to The Weekly Times from his Won Wron property, near Yarram, last night stating: “power is off here and everywhere, we have a generator at the farm though”.

“Have just milked two of our neighbours’ herds as they haven’t milked for three milkings. Power isn’t expected back on till Sunday.”

By late this evening the power had still not been connected to the Won Wron district, with Mr Mumford finally managing to make a voice call appealing for AusNet to take action.

Wonthaggi dairy farmers Daryl Hoey said he lost power at 9am yesterday and had been told he may have to wait until Sunday to be reconnected.

“(But) the power came back on at 1.30 this morning, so I only missed one milking,” Mr Hoey said.

“They (AusNet) were talking about it not coming back on until Sunday, which could become a massive animal welfare issue. I had a pretty sleepless night.”

Dairy Australia’s advice on power outages states herd productivity should not be affected as long as cows are not left unmilked for more than 48 hours.

“If cows cannot be milked, SCC (somatic cell counts) numbers will likely spike and it may take up to five days to recover,” DA’s adverse events sheet states.

Farmers must also deal with also face losing milk in vats and face disposal problems.

Ms Lilley said Gippsland restoration was an absolute priority for AusNet, especially with dairy farmers in the area.

“We have had crews and helicopters deployed across the region and have made progress with the power restoration.

“Flooding and fallen trees blocking roads as well as dangerous weather conditions have impacted the restoration. We are doing everything we can to restore the power as quickly and safely as possible.”

Milk processors are trying to get updates on the situation.

Bega was holding a staff briefing this evening to try and ascertain the extent of the problem, but has already found a number of farmers have been unable to get the power back on.

Fonterra is co-ordinating emergency milk collections and what support it can for farmers without power.