The ESB is reporting that 216,000 homes remain without power, with the worst affected regions being in the south and southwest of the country, and dairy farmers without power or backup generators will struggle to milk their cows.

According to the Irish Farmers Journal dairy editor Jack Kennedy, the biggest factor for dairy cows will be the stress of not being milked.

Cows are creatures of habit and enjoy the routine of coming into a parlour and being milked. Upsetting this routine will upset the cows.

Spring-calving herds will be producing less milk in this season, therefore the cows will be under less pressure.

However, autumn-calving herds will have cows producing more milk at this time of year and cows will be under a lot of stress if they can’t be milked.

Generator

Generators can be bought or hired and many winter milk producers will be well used to power cuts and may already have generators of their own.

However, the cost of buying a generator is usually too expensive for smaller dairy farmers, but reports are coming in that farmers are sharing their generators with neighbours in their local community.

ICMSA deputy president Pat McCormack told the Irish Farmers Journal that a generator belonging to one farmer in Tipperary had already been passed between five farms to milk cows on Tuesday morning.

McCormack said that this was the time when ‘‘you see the good in a community’’, with farmers and neighbours helping each other. He also said that the co-ops had been very understanding regarding the weather and the delay that it had had on milking cows and milk collections.

Mastitis

Farmers who are unable to get immediate access to a generator should remember that the longer a cow is left without being milked, the more stress the animal will be under resulting in a higher cell count and a higher risk of mastitis.

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