Golden Bay dairy farmers cut off by Cylone Gita struggling with limited milk pick-ups

March 7, 2018

The region's State Highway 60 is currently only open to escorted convoys.

Two weeks after ex-tropical Cyclone Gita hammered New Zealand, the Golden Bay area is still feeling the effects, especially struggling dairy farmers.

The cyclone caused major slips on State Highway 60, forcing the closure of the main road into the region at the top of the South Island.

This cut off an important link between dairy cows and the tankers collecting their milk.

"We were talking to our Fonterra rep and he said the best call would be to actually dump that milk so we had to dump close on 10,000 litres at that stage," Collingwood dairy farmer Alan Curnow told 1 NEWS.

The road is currently only open to escorted convoys twice a day and for most of Sundays.

That's badly affecting local businesses, with a survey showing 83 per cent are suffering during what's usually a very busy time of the year.

"For anyone who knows Golden Bay it's still alive and it's still open for business, but yeah it's going to be challenging going forward," Federated Farmers Tyler Langford said.

The New Zealand Transport Agency says the hill should be open to truck and trailers again in two-weeks-time.

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