Open Country opens butter plant
When American retail giant Cosco came to audit Open Country Dairy’s new butter plant at the Waharoa site and give the green light to supply their American stores, they allowed themselves a week for the exercise.
Fonterra’s head of Farm Source Bay of Plenty, Lisa Payne says local staff are currently preparing low-lying parts of the site for potential flooding.
Staff who are not involved in these preparations are being sent home.
“Approximately half of the team have already left the site,” she says.
The co-op’s local Farm Source store in the township remains closed due to flooding.
“The welfare of our staff, farmers and their animals is our number one priority. At this stage, the stopbank on the river where our site is located has held, but there is a possibility that we may evacuate the site later in the day if the river level continues to rise.
“Road closures are causing delays with some milk collections in the immediate area. Our Farm Source team is contacting impacted farmers directly.”
