This morning, The National Hurricane Center is expected to issue a Hurricane Watch for most of the east coast in anticipation of Hurricane Irene making landfall sometime over the weekend. North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Director of Communications Brian Long has detailed preparation for farm and livestock owners:
“They do these predictions every year about how many storms we’re going to have, but the truth is that the storm that affects your farm is the only one that matters. And so that is why it is important to plan ahead, and having an emergency plan in place, along with your list of contacts, and that kind of information so that you can get your operation up and running quickly as possible after a storm. You know, it’s very important you want to make sure that you have things ready so that you can protect your farm, your family and your workers. We just can’t stress that enough.”
Producers with livestock, in particular need to take special care, according to Long:
“Well, that’s right. You know you really do want to make sure that you’ve got some type of backup power available. Backup generators are always in high demand after storms, and feeding capabilities on a farm sometimes depend on those, and of course keeping animals safe and comfortable with ventilation is always a key. We encourage farmers to be ready, contact your local farm supplier or rental company or some other source where you might be able…if you don’t already have a generator where you might be able to secure one, and be ready just in case the power does go out.”
Long emphasizes that those producers with housed livestock such as poultry, diary cows, and housed swine they must be extra vigilant:
“That’s exactly right. And as we’ve seen on numerous times in the past with storms, and we even saw with the storms in the spring, just a little bit of time with a power outage can have a big impact in terms of your animals' health. We had a few instances with poultry houses that lost power in the tornados and those farmers lost birds as a result of that.”
Long offered these tips regarding feed and fuel:
“Well, you know, one of the things that we always advise, if there’s a forecast for even the potential of flooding, there’s a few things you need to do; you should secure your propane tanks, if you have those, make sure they’re turned off, and secure to keep them from floating away, move your equipment to the highest open ground you can find, keep that equipment away from trees and buildings, that could end up blowing on your equipment, move your feed to higher ground, or to a place where you can protect it from flood waters. Things like that can go a long way toward helping a farmer minimize the impact on his operation during a hurricane or a tropical storm.”
For more information and tips, NCDA offers a tip sheet:
“We do right now, on our website, if you go to ncagr.gov, there’s a link right there on the homepage, to tips for farmers, things they should be thinking about as they prepare for a storm.”
NCDA Director of Communications Brian Long.
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