Tuesday, 27 September 2016 12:06

Tankers can’t reach some Coromandel dairy farmers

Written by 
 Some roads on the Coromandel are either closed or restricted as a result of heavy rain. Some roads on the Coromandel are either closed or restricted as a result of heavy rain.

Waikato Regional Council staff are available to provide dairy farmers on the flood-affected Coromandel Peninsula with advice on the safe disposal of milk supplies.

Some roads on the Coromandel are either closed or restricted as a result of heavy rain in recent days, which has made it difficult for dairy supply companies to pick up milk from some farmers.

“We know storage capacity is going to be an issue for some farmers, and disposing of waste milk can be a problem for them,” says the council’s farming services team leader, Stuart Stone.

“Discharging or dumping of milk into a waterway has a massive effect on watercourses, a thousand times more drastic than farm dairy shed effluent. Any discharge of milk will deplete oxygen and kill all river and stream life, such as trout, eels, insects, koura and vegetation,” Stone says.

“But there are a number of safer emergency disposal options available to farmers, and these can be discussed with their dairy companies or our staff,” he says.

The council’s farming services team is on standby to provide advice to farmers on emergency milk disposal options – call our 24-hour freephone on 0800 800 401.

More like this

Unreal hot air

OPINION: The Hound is perplexed about some of the over-the-top climate catastrophising by mainstream media outlets during the holidays.

Optimism grows

HorticultureNZ chair Barry O'Neil believes the mood in the sector is more positive than it's been all year.

Piggery effluent polluting stream

Waikato Regional Council has sought an interim Enforcement Order from the Environment Court to stop piggery effluent from entering a waterway north of Te Aroha.

Featured

Feds make case for rural bank lending probe

Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.

MPI cuts 391 jobs

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has informed staff it will cut 391 jobs following a consultation period.

National

Canada's flagrant dishonesty

Deeply cynical and completely illogical. That's how Kimberly Crewther, the executive director of DCANZ is describing the Canadian government's flagrant…

Regional leader award

Eastern Bay of Plenty farmer Rebecca O’Brien was named the 2024 Dairy Women’s Network (DWN) Regional Leader of the Year.

Machinery & Products

Tractor, harvester IT comes of age

Over the last halfdecade, digital technology has appeared to be the “must-have” for tractor and machinery companies, who believe that…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Substitute for cow's milk?

OPINION: Scientists claim to have found a new way to make a substitute for cow's milk that could have a…

Breathalyser for cows

OPINION: The Irish have come up with a novel way to measure cow belching, which is said to account for…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter