The fire Monday at Pennwood Dairy is considered by dairy producers as the most significant loss the province’s milk industry has ever seen.

The fire, which began early Monday morning, claimed four barns and approximately 800 cattle.

Read more: Fire Kills About 800 Cattle

“Shocking,” “devastating,” and “traumatic” are the words Dairy Farmers of Manitoba Chair David Wiens uses to describe this catastrophe. He offers every condolence to the farm family who has lost so much.

“I’m sure it will take a while for them to fully understand the impact the losses here,” he offers, “but as Dairy Farms of Manitoba we want to stand with the family to help them through these difficult times.”

As one of the largest dairy farms in the province, Wiens notes that Pennwood Dairy was responsible for 2.6% of the province’s milk supply. That will temporarily change. While local residents will see no change in milk prices, he says the farms from Saskatchewan and Ontario will need to shuffle around their resources in the coming months to continue meeting the market demand.

In the meantime, Pennwood Dairy has a lot of work ahead of them.

“I would absolutely expect it to be a year or two years before they’re back into production on this farm,” states Wiens who says all surviving cows will likely be moved to other farm’s across Manitoba so they can continue to be milked and cared for.



Read more: Huge Loss In Dairy Fire



