Generators now a 'must-have' for dairy sheds

JOHN BISSET/Fairfax NZ

GENERATORS IN ACTION: Daniel Hughes milking on a South Canterbury dairy farm where power was knocked out by high winds.

All dairy sheds should be equipped with generators to ensure they can milk through power cuts, South Canterbury Federated Farmers says.

Hundreds of farmers across South Canterbury were left without power this week, including dairy farmers who had to borrow generators so they could continue milking.

South Canterbury Federated Farmers provincial president Ivon Hurst said this week's storm should be a wake-up call to those farmers who have yet to invest in backup plans.

Mr Hurst has been fielding calls for generators since the outage, in conjunction with the Rural Trust, which provides assistance in emergencies.

He did not know how many milking sheds were still running on generators, or how many had been distributed to South Canterbury farms to help with the latest outage. However, the need had decreased since Tuesday's fierce storm, he said.

"The demand has slowed.

"[On Wednesday] every Tom, Dick and Harry wanted one."

There was now more demand in Mid and North Canterbury, he said.

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Generators now a 'must-have' for dairy sheds