“We had to pump water out of our neighbor’s pond using a power inverter, a sump pump and garden hose,” explained Erin Altman. She and her husband, Pat, own Wild Hair Farms in Wellington Township. “We pumped water into tubs and hauled it to water tanks to our cattle.”

They have 60 head of Hereford, Angus and cross breeds. Yes, they have a generator. Its assignment: provide power to another part of their farm.

“We used our generator to focus on our freezers to keep our beef, lamb and pork safe for customers and ourselves,” Erin Altman said.

An emergency purchase was made and they now have generators that are large enough to run the well, furnace and freezers.

Courtesy Photo Cows on the Altman farm are seen after getting their drinking water.

Bryan DeCare, who farms in Wilson Township, hauls 250 gallons twice a day to provide sufficient drinking water to his 50 head of Black Angus. DeCare owns Ball Tire in Alpena, so that’s where he hauled it from.

“They did not like the city water, but they did drink it,” DeCare said.

In an emergency situation, you do what you have to do. Brook Alloway of B&B Farms in Maple Ridge Township explained, “The water tanks are dry, so we extended the pasture to include a natural water source. We usually exclude the cattle from natural water sources for conservation reasons, but in this circumstance, we are monitoring the conditions. To make matters worse, in late March we weaned the calves, separating them from the cows, so currently we have two herds that both need access to water, but cannot have access to the same water at the same time.”

Fences are necessary to keep the animals contained and out of harm’s way. Farmers with electric strand fencing where a jolt of electric shock is given to anything that touches it, were left helpless when the power went out. No power. No shock. No pain. Cows no stay in. But, you can’t just hook the generator up to the fence energizer and figure the fencing is good to go. The ice was heavy and weighed down lines. When electric fence hits the ground, the shock to the cow is greatly reduced and they don’t see it as a barrier. In addition, factor in that often trees line the perimeter of fields and in this ice storm, many trees fell on the fences.

Alloway described their challenge, “We are also limited by the distance of our pastures to the fence which is currently powered by a small generator. So much of the electric perimeter fence of the 300 acres we farm has been broken by falling trees and branches, that we have detached the majority of the fence, and only have a small portion by the barnyard electrified.”

Courtesy Photo A pullet is seen in the VanVolkenburgs’ laundry room. The pullet is one of Mya and Jake VanVolkenburg’s 4-H market projects.

Amy Lewis of Wellington Township’s Lumsden Dairy Farm, owned by Tom and Grace Lumsden, explained, “We are no longer a dairy farm … but, we do have beef cattle that rely on us no matter what it is like outside. So, this week has been a week of muscle building. Thankfully, watering is not an issue for us, but feeding grain without feeding conveyors and augers is back to the basics of filling and hauling pails — many pails back and forth, morning and night — no matter rain, ice or wind. Some say we are crazy to bale little bales in the summer, but it has been really nice to throw down hay from the haymow for all to munch on throughout the day. Everyone is content and chewing their cuds as if just another day on the farm with no worries about them.”

Connie Lucas of Lucas Dairy Farms LLC, of Wellington Township, said, “We have a large generator that runs off the tractor; it is hooked to the milking facility (350 milking cows) all but two hours. Those two hours it is hooked to the barns for the young stock (475 young heifers), and my house runs off it. Brentt and Derek have been working hard keeping the livestock watered and fed.”

Bryanna and Collin Beyer, of Wilson Township, experienced stray voltage when they hooked up their generator to the barn to power the water pump and lights.

“When the ice was still on everything, it conducted electricity,” Bryanna Beyer said. “So, Collin flipped switches in the box until he narrowed it down to the source. When the ice melted, the problem disappeared and he was able to power up the part of the barn that had been shut off.”

Some livestock requires heat/light. Dawn Martin of Echo Ridge Farms in Sanborn Township said they run the generator to provide power to heat lamps that keep their 14 six-week-old piglets warm.

Courtesy Photo Sage Altman, 2-1/2 years old, surveys the ice situation on the farm.

“Really, nothing has changed much for us because we’ve planned for this kind of stuff ahead of time,” she said.

As for her 150 laying hens, she is happy to have a generator to provide the 16 hours of light to keep egg production from dropping.

Alpena County 4-Hers have had to take measures to keep their poultry projects alive.

Leah VanVolkenburg of Little Sprouts Garden said, “We have 23 two-week-old pullet chicks living in our laundry room. They are Jake and Mya’s market projects. To keep them warm, we have been heating hot water for bottles for the chicks to huddle around.”

In addition to the poultry, other market projects are needing water, too.

Mary Kelley Centala

“My kids have been diligently pumping water from our hand pump well two to three times a day, to supply to our house and their animals,” VanVolkenburg said.

Alpena High School Agriscience Instructor Melissa Smith says greenhouse plants were affected by lack of heat. For example, 25% of the 100 hanging baskets and 50 planters have some damage.

“Students will have to remove damaged and dead plant material,” Smith said. “Most of the baskets and planters will recover.”

JB Cook of Alpena Farmers Market, surveyed his orchard.

“Some of my larger older apple trees lost some large limbs,” Cook said. “A couple young trees lost some of their smaller, weak branches. They should all come back fine, though. I have a few peach trees that lost all their limbs and may not make it.”

Courtesy Photo Mya, 11, and Jake, 12, VanVolkenburg pump and haul water to the house and then to the barn for their 4-H projects.

Amy Lewis reflected, “This past week has once again reminded us in the agricultural world, that we are totally at the mercy of God’s creation and weather is one thing we cannot control. We are used to praying. But this past week has been an incredibly beautiful, and powerfully dangerous weather event that I hope will be a long time coming again.”

Mary Centala and her husband, Mike, own and operate Heritage Acres Farm in Wilson Township. Mary has a lifelong connection with agriculture and has journalism and broadcasting degrees from Alpena Community College and Central Michigan University. Contact her at heritageacres15@yahoo.com.

Courtesy Photo An ice-coated fence is seen at the Altmans' farm.

Courtesy Photo B&B Farms cows drinking from a pond that they have access to drink from for the time being.

Courtesy Photo Lucas Dairy Farm LLC's tractor-powered PTO generator supplies power to the farm.

Courtesy Photo A tree fell on the Altmans' cow pasture fence.

Courtesy Photo The Altmans pump water from their neighbor's pond into tubs in the back of their pickup truck.