Source: Report in GlobalDairy.com
Robert Hagevoort is a dairy Extension agent in the area with New Mexico State University. He says quantifying cow losses at this time is tough, but he estimates about 5{257ecae47c7fec349321aca28547072fa2160c1991a573be7695613338f0f130} death loss on milking cows and double that on young stock.
“Consider our average herd size is 2,300 cows, and we’ve got 150 dairies in our area,” he explains. “At 5{257ecae47c7fec349321aca28547072fa2160c1991a573be7695613338f0f130} loss, that’s more than 20,000 cows.”
Total losses won’t be known until farmers finish digging cows out of snow drifts, Hagevoort says.
“Cows have literally been buried alive for two days” he says. “Some of them are alive when they are found, and some of them aren’t.”
Although New Mexico has declared a state of emergency, Hagevoort says, FSA is the only agency that will be able to offer farmers financial relief.
Andle van der Ploeg, owner of Mid-Frisian Dairy, milks 1,800 cows six miles outside of Clovis. Van der Ploeg moved to America from the Netherlands in 2003 and says this is the worst snow storm he’s seen. He says snow drifts on his farm are 14 feet high in spots.
“You can walk right over the top of a trailer house,” he says. “I had heifers walk right over the fence and out of the pen.”
Robert Hagevoort is a dairy Extension agent in the area with New Mexico State University. He says quantifying cow losses at this time is tough, but he estimates about 5{257ecae47c7fec349321aca28547072fa2160c1991a573be7695613338f0f130} death loss on milking cows and double that on young stock.
“Consider our average herd size is 2,300 cows, and we’ve got 150 dairies in our area,” he explains. “At 5{257ecae47c7fec349321aca28547072fa2160c1991a573be7695613338f0f130} loss, that’s more than 20,000 cows.”
Total losses won’t be known until farmers finish digging cows out of snow drifts, Hagevoort says.
“Cows have literally been buried alive for two days” he says. “Some of them are alive when they are found, and some of them aren’t.”
Although New Mexico has declared a state of emergency, Hagevoort says, FSA is the only agency that will be able to offer farmers financial relief.
Andle van der Ploeg, owner of Mid-Frisian Dairy, milks 1,800 cows six miles outside of Clovis. Van der Ploeg moved to America from the Netherlands in 2003 and says this is the worst snow storm he’s seen. He says snow drifts on his farm are 14 feet high in spots.
“You can walk right over the top of a trailer house,” he says. “I had heifers walk right over the fence and out of the pen.”
