Storm Brian no match for Cork farmers

The arrival of storm Brian in the wake of ex-hurricane Ophelia has not been damaging as had been forecast on many farms in the south of Ireland. However, it did hamper the monumental efforts to get cows milked and power restored to farms after the outages caused by Ophelia.

The hard spell of weather highlighted the community spirit and commitment that exists as farmers helped each other to get cows milked.

Ophelia brought wind speeds of 191km/hr, resulting in the loss of three lives. It knocked trees and damaged sheds on farms all around the country. Storm Brian followed and brought flooding and continued power outages for farmers already under pressure to milk and water cattle without electricity.

Up to 360,000 people were without power after ex-hurricane Ophelia, with the south of Ireland suffering the worst power outages in the country. But farmers in west Cork were undaunted in the face of widespread power loss, and those with generators on hand lent them to neighbours and friends to milk cows, while co-ops contacted farmers to collect milk before the storm hit.

However, on Tuesday, the ESB estimated that up to 6,000 homes, predominantly in the south of Ireland, were still without power a week after ex-hurricane Ophelia.

Helping each other

Corney Buckley, the west Cork IFA chair, outlined how people continued to help each other a week after both storms.

“I have my own generator, so everything was the same as normal,” Corney said. “But it was no sooner finished with here than John, my son, had to go out and do four or five herds for neighbours … Now my generator has gone as far as Dairygold to try to help people there and it’s all about helping people when they’re in trouble.”

Farmers across west Cork praised the hard work of the ESB, with some teams coming all the way from Donegal to restore power to homes and farms in the county.

Liam Buckley

Donoughmore

“I got a phone call and went down to a neighbour one evening to give a hand with the generator. The following morning, the phone starting ringing a bit more. I went to another one or two, then the phone kept ringing. So I did my best to fit them in, but the biggest problem was people weren’t wired up for it really. Thank God help came on board and relieved the whole thing a bit. Tuesday was the biggest day, I milked for 11 different farmers that day and seven on Wednesday. I was only giving fellas a helping hand really. We could all be stuck someday. It was just handy I had the generator.”

John Hourihane

Reenascreena

“We were able to milk with the PTO in the parlour by changing the pulsation and there’s a gravity water supply for the dairy yard. We plate-cooled the milk every day until Saturday evening when we got a generator from the co-op. It was passed on from different farmers as their power returned.

“Our power came back around 4pm on Monday. A neighbour took the generator Monday evening as there was a pole down in his yard and he wouldn’t have power until Tuesday.

“The biggest problem was in an outside place where we finish cattle, as there is a water pump there, so we had to draw water in.

“I suppose we were working hard and going nowhere. We were starting at eight in the morning and finishing at 11 at night for the week, with everything only half done really. There are a few freshly calved cows and we kept milking twice a day – the cows came first. We milked a bit later in the morning and earlier in the evening for light in the parlour but a few of the cows got mastitis because the routine was put out.”

Jack Allen

Newcestown

“I met two neighbours up the road the day after the storm and they said they had no electricity. I have a generator. I was starting here in the morning at six and would go to the next man and then the next. I’d come back then and pump water for myself and then go and keep a deep freeze going for a someone else.

“We started one morning at six and finished at one that night. We started again at half five the next morning and finished around one again.

“Things eased off on Thursday when generators freed up. The power came back Friday evening but fellas were under pressure and so were cows.

“The hardest part was the waiting. Every one of them would have done the same for me. While I was milking for some other fella, one of the other farmers came up and fed the cows here because someone had to stay with the generator. And fair play, I helped them but they helped me in return.”

Billy Wiseman

Macroom

“Access to places was tough because of trees on the road, especially on Tuesday. I was in a place with bad mobile coverage and when I got the phone into reception I had 27 missed calls from farmers looking for generators.

“We milked about 4,500 cows between the two generators during the week in 28 different yards.

“I went into one place at five o’clock in the morning to milk 160 cows and I was back home to do our own at seven before going onto the next place.

“The generator finished up at nine o’clock on Sunday night on the home farm. One of the tractors did 101 hours from Monday morning to Sunday night with the generator.”