Floods force Fonterra plant closure in New Zealand

As water levels begin to recede, New Zealand’s farmers are coming to terms with the effects of the heavy flooding on the North Island in recent weeks, after what was described as a “once in 500 year” flood swept the country.

Thousands of acres of farmland were hit with high levels of rainfall in early April as the tail end of ex-cyclone Debbie swept east after devastating large parts of Australia.

Dairy processor Fonterra said that 40 of its suppliers had been affected by the flooding.

The multinational dairy co-op also said that while it had planned to re-open the plant in Edgecumbe, which had been forced closed as a direct result of the intense flooding, “new information about the state of the nearby flood-bank has delayed our intended restart.”

While damage to the plant is expected to be minimal, concern over the availability of workers has been raised, most of whom live in a local town which had been cordoned off after a nearby flood bank breached and homes were flooded.

The processing plant in Edgecumbe has a daily capacity of 3m litres and an annual production of almost 69,000t of dairy powders.

Where milk can be collected off farm, it is being redirected to Fonterra’s manufacturing sites in Waikato, nearly 200km away.