October 27, 2025 • 9 mins
Bruce says infrastructure has been the key to farming without any mains power.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The musters on the farm brought to you by Southland
District Council working together for a better Southland.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Bruce Deed farms at Calso and joins us this afternoon. Bruce,
good afternoon. What is it day five without power for you?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Yeah? Five or six or whatever it is, depends when
you start the count I suppose. But yeah, same time
as most people lunch time on Thursdays. He was gone Burger.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So have the situation out at Calso, just give people
a bit of an understanding of what it's like.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Yeah, well there's been bits and pieces that sort of
seems quite petchy from what I can gether with people,
Harriet got it last night. People over the flat from us,
they got it yesterday as well. Some got it Saturday afternoon.
The people will we share their generator with they got
it Saturday afternoon. So there the next road over, so
we were pretty hopeful. There was actually a bucket truck
(00:58):
out here. A problem on air road. Some big trees
fell over across the road and pulled the lines down
on their side of the road and they are still
lying as they fell on Thursday. So yeah, Saturday afternoon
about six o'clock was actually a bucket truck from Pound
meet up there, so I shot up talked to them
(01:18):
and he said, oh, I know, they were just stuffing
it out. They had a major a bit further down
the road. They had to get sorted and they'll be
back tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes, so you know, we're
just running off generators obviously the Ki sheds. The robot's
got a diesel generator that kicks in automatically, so it's
been running non stop since Thursday lunchtime and the hearing
(01:41):
bone year we were shearer or half shares and the
generator with a neighbor there, so it was milking three
herds of caws as cares there between us for a
couple of days until Saturday afternoon. They got their pair
on two of their shed. So yeah, the genie's just
at home there, parked up outside their She'd went back
to sort of normal milking times. But yeah, still running
(02:03):
off the generator.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So the big concern for you is you don't know
if the powers in those lines that's on the ground.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, well that's the thing the old Ki we canned
you attitude. It wouldn't take long to shift the trees
with a track and a saw, but the lines are
tangled in it, and I'll put it out there public
service announcement. Nobody should actually go near them and try.
It's very tempting and you think, well, I haven't got
any power, they won't be live, but it's not worth
taking the risk. We don't need to read about that
in the papers. So yeah, so it's very frustrating sitting
(02:31):
there looking them. Actually blocked the road to it's a
bit of a three fair roads, so the school bus
can't get through. And unfortunately, there was a milk tanker
driver came down the road the other day and it's
probably about two two and a half kg from the
turn off where the trees are down, and he spent
probably a good hour and a half reversing a milk
tanker back up to where he could get turned around.
So it was entertaining, but I do feel for the
(02:52):
guy at the same time. So yeah, but why cacather's
no power at the school anyway? Because the kids are
at home today and up through the valley and that
I'm led to believe there's no pair and a lot
of that up here.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Too, So well, that gets rid of that rumor over
time about Fontara trucks not having reverse.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, that's exactly right. They do have reverse, it's not
that truck probably reversed more in that air and a
half than it will in the rest of its entire
trucking life. But no, I mean it was a hard one.
I mean people just have to have patience and that
because you know, the phones were down, Internet was down,
the good old no communication, you know, like nobody knew
what was happening, and you couldn't actually relay a message
(03:33):
to anyone. It was any for us with the rts
and the tractors and things like that, but you could
jump onto someone else's channel. But as for ringing through
to anybody, you know, we lost internet, which for the
robots side of things, I don't get any alarms or
anything for any problems and that in the robots with
no Internet, so you could say, oh, yeah, it just
(03:55):
it's all good. But if something had happened and robots
had shut down, I wouldn't know. Only I was there,
so I had to be sort of getting up to
three times in the night just to check him and
keep the generator fueld. In that, but you know, there's
plenty of plenty of great stories around you know that
I've just through people that I've known that through snapchat.
You know, herds walking, you know, four or five k's
(04:18):
down the road to another shed to be milked and
generators being shed. There was a track to going around
west of to Tago, probably done eight or nine sheets,
just continually going round. Another one I heard of always
drove to Ashburgh and to grab a generator, drove back
and milk doing our thousand KOs through one sheet and
then ten minutes after they finished the pair come back on.
(04:39):
But you know, it's there's some good stories out there,
and it just goes to show that the rule heart
of helping your fellow men is still strong.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, good old Murphy's going to a period of nowhere.
As far as damage from the wind on your property,
what's it like.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
No, we got away pretty pretty relatively unscared, and he's
probably twelve to fifteen.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Sort.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Moll A shelled about trees blown over, but nothing. You know,
some of the you will have seen pictures and things
like that of entire rows and max and pines that
are probably forty year old just lying on their side.
Just some majores around. But we're lucky. We didn't seem
to cop that. It does seem to be hit and miss.
So I'm just sitting here looking at the neighbors and
they got a big row of gum trees and it's
(05:22):
four or five of them down, but the other twenty standing.
And there's tales of that vice versa where there's one
standing and the rest of them a line. So yeah,
it's I think the big thing was it just happened
so fast. It was probably only twenty minutes, half an
hour at the most, I think here anyway, it was windy.
We've had a lot of wind obviously of late, but
that was next level and then it just peeded out,
(05:45):
and yeah, I'd done a lot of damage in a
short time. I think the thing that caught everybody out
was it's just it wasn't just why Kaki for argument's sake,
of Edendale or Tubatapriy. It was basically a toago south
and wide and that's what's you know, got us all
foul hooked because there just wasn't enough year to go
around for a major like that.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So what's production been like over the past ten days.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Uh, Well, we haven't really changed in that sense because
we had the generator. We've had a generator the robots
obviously from day one, so that was just business as
usual and attract the generator. With us having winter milked
in years gone by, we were always susceptible to losing
powder to snow or something, so we've always had one
on hand, so basically the production's been no different. It
(06:33):
was just the fact that ten bekers getting here, which
luckily they sort of were being able to get in
and get out and get bits and pieces, and the
milk was at the right temperature for them, so that
hasn't obviously been the case everywhere, but yeah, for us
personally on farm either thing's probably just taken over as normal.
Apart from the fact that it's been done by a generators.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I suppose the're saving grace is the fact you do
have cell phone coverage.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, well that's the thing we do now. It was
pretty and miss there for the first couple of days. Frustrating.
I did have an error with one of the robots
and trying to talk to one of the texts. They
couldn't like they can usually log in from wherever they
are over the internet and then diagnose and fix the problem,
but obviously no Internet and then trying to talk to
them over the phone. There's the old standard Hello either
(07:19):
can you hear me, I've got you, and then it
would go dead. So it was quite frustrating from everyone
one of you. So I'm sure it wasn't the only
one that had that problem.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Just finally, other areas over there experiencing issues regarding power still.
I believe like some green veil is still being affected.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, no, I think you know, the further you get
back into the hills there with that mile flat things
like that. I've heard guy where Clyde Vale wrenkle Burn.
It's pretty widespread still from what I'm hearing, and you know,
it's frustrating it as it is that you don't have power,
Like I'm very frustrated about seeing what's lying down the
(07:56):
road from us and you can't do anything about it.
But you know, there's so many other people in the
same boat and we, unfortunately we just have to wait
our turn. I think the majority of cows are being
milked now, well, I'm sure we'll probably majority of cows
are being milked on generators or through the main system again. Now,
so that was the major one, and it's just most
people have got Jennies for houses and things like that
(08:17):
to get through now. So yeah, it's the novel has
worn off. I will admit the generator rolling outside the
house twenty four to seven to keep the fridges and
freezers going. But yeah, the day will come, will flick
the swicks, and the lights will come back on. I
didn't think it would be this long, but here we
are good.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
On your brace, always appreciate your time and all the best,
and hopefully that powers up and running sooner than later.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, no, I thought's everyone else that's gone through the
same situation. It will come back on. And you know,
there's only so many hours in the day and so
many powers guys out there doing it. So I'm certainly
sure they're not bloody, they're not slacking, they'll be doing
the best they can. So yeah, just hanging their team
will make it through.
The musters on the farm brought to you by Southland
District Council working together for a better Southland.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Bruce Deed farms at Calso and joins us this afternoon. Bruce,
good afternoon. What is it day five without power for you?
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Yeah? Five or six or whatever it is, depends when
you start the count I suppose. But yeah, same time
as most people lunch time on Thursdays. He was gone Burger.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
So have the situation out at Calso, just give people
a bit of an understanding of what it's like.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Yeah, well there's been bits and pieces that sort of
seems quite petchy from what I can gether with people,
Harriet got it last night. People over the flat from us,
they got it yesterday as well. Some got it Saturday afternoon.
The people will we share their generator with they got
it Saturday afternoon. So there the next road over, so
we were pretty hopeful. There was actually a bucket truck
(00:58):
out here. A problem on air road. Some big trees
fell over across the road and pulled the lines down
on their side of the road and they are still
lying as they fell on Thursday. So yeah, Saturday afternoon
about six o'clock was actually a bucket truck from Pound
meet up there, so I shot up talked to them
(01:18):
and he said, oh, I know, they were just stuffing
it out. They had a major a bit further down
the road. They had to get sorted and they'll be
back tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes, so you know, we're
just running off generators obviously the Ki sheds. The robot's
got a diesel generator that kicks in automatically, so it's
been running non stop since Thursday lunchtime and the hearing
(01:41):
bone year we were shearer or half shares and the
generator with a neighbor there, so it was milking three
herds of caws as cares there between us for a
couple of days until Saturday afternoon. They got their pair
on two of their shed. So yeah, the genie's just
at home there, parked up outside their She'd went back
to sort of normal milking times. But yeah, still running
(02:03):
off the generator.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So the big concern for you is you don't know
if the powers in those lines that's on the ground.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, well that's the thing the old Ki we canned
you attitude. It wouldn't take long to shift the trees
with a track and a saw, but the lines are
tangled in it, and I'll put it out there public
service announcement. Nobody should actually go near them and try.
It's very tempting and you think, well, I haven't got
any power, they won't be live, but it's not worth
taking the risk. We don't need to read about that
in the papers. So yeah, so it's very frustrating sitting
(02:31):
there looking them. Actually blocked the road to it's a
bit of a three fair roads, so the school bus
can't get through. And unfortunately, there was a milk tanker
driver came down the road the other day and it's
probably about two two and a half kg from the
turn off where the trees are down, and he spent
probably a good hour and a half reversing a milk
tanker back up to where he could get turned around.
So it was entertaining, but I do feel for the
(02:52):
guy at the same time. So yeah, but why cacather's
no power at the school anyway? Because the kids are
at home today and up through the valley and that
I'm led to believe there's no pair and a lot
of that up here.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Too, So well, that gets rid of that rumor over
time about Fontara trucks not having reverse.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Yeah, that's exactly right. They do have reverse, it's not
that truck probably reversed more in that air and a
half than it will in the rest of its entire
trucking life. But no, I mean it was a hard one.
I mean people just have to have patience and that
because you know, the phones were down, Internet was down,
the good old no communication, you know, like nobody knew
what was happening, and you couldn't actually relay a message
(03:33):
to anyone. It was any for us with the rts
and the tractors and things like that, but you could
jump onto someone else's channel. But as for ringing through
to anybody, you know, we lost internet, which for the
robots side of things, I don't get any alarms or
anything for any problems and that in the robots with
no Internet, so you could say, oh, yeah, it just
(03:55):
it's all good. But if something had happened and robots
had shut down, I wouldn't know. Only I was there,
so I had to be sort of getting up to
three times in the night just to check him and
keep the generator fueld. In that, but you know, there's
plenty of plenty of great stories around you know that
I've just through people that I've known that through snapchat.
You know, herds walking, you know, four or five k's
(04:18):
down the road to another shed to be milked and
generators being shed. There was a track to going around
west of to Tago, probably done eight or nine sheets,
just continually going round. Another one I heard of always
drove to Ashburgh and to grab a generator, drove back
and milk doing our thousand KOs through one sheet and
then ten minutes after they finished the pair come back on.
(04:39):
But you know, it's there's some good stories out there,
and it just goes to show that the rule heart
of helping your fellow men is still strong.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yeah, good old Murphy's going to a period of nowhere.
As far as damage from the wind on your property,
what's it like.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
No, we got away pretty pretty relatively unscared, and he's
probably twelve to fifteen.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Sort.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Moll A shelled about trees blown over, but nothing. You know,
some of the you will have seen pictures and things
like that of entire rows and max and pines that
are probably forty year old just lying on their side.
Just some majores around. But we're lucky. We didn't seem
to cop that. It does seem to be hit and miss.
So I'm just sitting here looking at the neighbors and
they got a big row of gum trees and it's
(05:22):
four or five of them down, but the other twenty standing.
And there's tales of that vice versa where there's one
standing and the rest of them a line. So yeah,
it's I think the big thing was it just happened
so fast. It was probably only twenty minutes, half an
hour at the most, I think here anyway, it was windy.
We've had a lot of wind obviously of late, but
that was next level and then it just peeded out,
(05:45):
and yeah, I'd done a lot of damage in a
short time. I think the thing that caught everybody out
was it's just it wasn't just why Kaki for argument's sake,
of Edendale or Tubatapriy. It was basically a toago south
and wide and that's what's you know, got us all
foul hooked because there just wasn't enough year to go
around for a major like that.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So what's production been like over the past ten days.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Uh, Well, we haven't really changed in that sense because
we had the generator. We've had a generator the robots
obviously from day one, so that was just business as
usual and attract the generator. With us having winter milked
in years gone by, we were always susceptible to losing
powder to snow or something, so we've always had one
on hand, so basically the production's been no different. It
(06:33):
was just the fact that ten bekers getting here, which
luckily they sort of were being able to get in
and get out and get bits and pieces, and the
milk was at the right temperature for them, so that
hasn't obviously been the case everywhere, but yeah, for us
personally on farm either thing's probably just taken over as normal.
Apart from the fact that it's been done by a generators.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I suppose the're saving grace is the fact you do
have cell phone coverage.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Yeah, well that's the thing we do now. It was
pretty and miss there for the first couple of days. Frustrating.
I did have an error with one of the robots
and trying to talk to one of the texts. They
couldn't like they can usually log in from wherever they
are over the internet and then diagnose and fix the problem,
but obviously no Internet and then trying to talk to
them over the phone. There's the old standard Hello either
(07:19):
can you hear me, I've got you, and then it
would go dead. So it was quite frustrating from everyone
one of you. So I'm sure it wasn't the only
one that had that problem.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Just finally, other areas over there experiencing issues regarding power still.
I believe like some green veil is still being affected.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, no, I think you know, the further you get
back into the hills there with that mile flat things
like that. I've heard guy where Clyde Vale wrenkle Burn.
It's pretty widespread still from what I'm hearing, and you know,
it's frustrating it as it is that you don't have power,
Like I'm very frustrated about seeing what's lying down the
(07:56):
road from us and you can't do anything about it.
But you know, there's so many other people in the
same boat and we, unfortunately we just have to wait
our turn. I think the majority of cows are being
milked now, well, I'm sure we'll probably majority of cows
are being milked on generators or through the main system again. Now,
so that was the major one, and it's just most
people have got Jennies for houses and things like that
(08:17):
to get through now. So yeah, it's the novel has
worn off. I will admit the generator rolling outside the
house twenty four to seven to keep the fridges and
freezers going. But yeah, the day will come, will flick
the swicks, and the lights will come back on. I
didn't think it would be this long, but here we
are good.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
On your brace, always appreciate your time and all the best,
and hopefully that powers up and running sooner than later.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Yeah, no, I thought's everyone else that's gone through the
same situation. It will come back on. And you know,
there's only so many hours in the day and so
many powers guys out there doing it. So I'm certainly
sure they're not bloody, they're not slacking, they'll be doing
the best they can. So yeah, just hanging their team
will make it through.
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