Tips for Farm Customers

1. Communications

2. Lighting

3. Review Your Operations

4. During an Outage

5. Livestock protection during a cold-weather outage

6. Minimize stress on your livestock

7. On-site farm computers

1.  Communications

Communication is essential during power outages. Cordless phones or extension phones that require connection to an electric outlet won't work during power outages.

Keep your veterinarian's phone number handy for any problems with your livestock.

Keep your electrician's phone number handy for any problems with your emergency and standby power systems.

2.  Lighting

This may seem too obvious to bother about. Yes, of course you have a flashlight. But do you know where it is? Could you find it in the dark? Do you have extra batteries? Rechargeable flashlights and/or emergency lighting can be used effectively to run your operations in the dark or under poor lighting conditions.

3.  Review your operations

Identify any "must-run" equipment, and any non-essential load that can be reduced if there is a call to reduce power province-wide. Remember that if everybody reduces their loads during peak periods then the impact on the total system load is significant and can help reduce the likelihood of service interruptions.

4.  During an outage:

If you have must run operations and require a stand by generator or portable generation  - click here.

5.  Livestock protection during a cold-weather outage

Ventilation and heat retention are essential to protecting your livestock. For operations with small numbers of livestock:

• Keep barn doors closed to retain heat

• Open windows and doors slightly, to get some air exchange

• A warming area can be made with straw bales and a plastic tarp to keep out drafts for younger livestock.

• Ensure livestock is kept in a relatively draft-free area.

  

6.  Minimize stress on your livestock

Ensure extra feed and water are available.

Remember that you can not grind or mix feed or pump water when there is no power.

Smaller operations can provide a reservoir of water by placing stock tanks or barrels in the barn on straw or shavings to insulate the bottom. Cover the sides and top with bales of straw. This reservoir will reduce unnecessary stress on both you and your livestock during the outage.

Each type of farm animal (e.g., cows, lambs, poultry, swine, horses, etc.) has unique needs during a power outage. Be prepared to minimize the stress on the animals.

For example make sure the standby emergency generator has adequate capacity to run milking machines and ventilation fans.

7.  On-site farm computers

Back up computer files frequently.

Consider buying an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for critical computers and other equipment. This provides temporary battery backup power to allow you to save data and turn the computer off safely without losing valuable information.