Fonterra, the largest dairy processor in New Zealand, has said that some of its farmer suppliers may have to dispose of their milk as some farms remain inaccessible or without power following the 7.5 magnitude earthquake that hit the country’s South Island on Sunday night local time.

The earthquake hit near Hanmer Springs in the north west of the South Island, around 95km from Christchurch. A series of aftershocks then followed throughout the night with the largest recording a magnitude of 6.8.

The worst hit area in New Zealand was the coastal town of Kaikoura, and Fonterra have said that approximately 30 farms in that area may not have their milk collected due to the severely damaged roads.

14 Novemeber 2016 New Zealand earthquake epicentre and proximity to milk processing sites. Source: FC Stone.

The damage caused by the earthquake will also lead to late milk collections for many farmers, as tankers are rerouted onto safe and passable roads. Widespread disruption to the electricity grid is also affecting powering milking parlours and reports indicate that some rotary parlours are not operating following the earthquake.

Processing

Robert Spurway, Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer for Global Operations, said that most of the co-op’s manufacturing sites around the country are fully operational and processing milk as usual having suffered no major damage during the earthquake.

Fonterra’s cheese producing Kaikoura facility in north east Canterbury is approximately 60km from the epicentre of the main earthquake and the large Darfield whole milk powder site in west Canterbury is 115km from the epicentre.

“We will continue carrying out safety assessments over the course of the day but at this stage we are comfortable there are no significant structural concerns or on-going impact on the normal running of our business,” Spurway said.

Stranded cattle

Meanwhile, the extent of ground movement during the earthquake has been captured in footage taken from a helicopter which shows two cows and a calf stranded on a small area of land completely surrounded by landslides.

View the video below:

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