Florida dairy farm lost 200 cows to Hurricane Ian. Community came in ‘like the cavalry’
Manatee County’s last remaining dairy lost several hundred head of cattle and suffered extensive property damage due to Hurricane Ian.
“Our dairy took a major hit and it rocked us to our core. We have lost over 200 head with that number still rising,” Dakin Dairy Farms, 30771 Betts Road, said on its Facebook page.
“We are reaching out to the community not only for help but to provide help as well. We have power and showers and plenty of milk,” the Facebook post said.
In response, the community rallied to help Dakin recover from its damage.
Sunday, Dakin posted: “This community, this entire community, is absolutely amazing! We are blown away and so grateful for every single person that literally showed up on our front step to help us! Y’all came from all over bringing food, water, chainsaws, personal tractors, and helping hands! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
“Coming in like the cavalry, to rescue us, to help us! We are forever grateful to all of you,” Dakin said.
“Right now we are in need of any able bodies to help clean metal out of our barns to keep our girls safe. Our crew is working tirelessly through the night, so any food to feed them is much appreciated,” the dairy said.
On Sunday, Dakin also posted that electric power had been restored at the dairy.
Dakin Dairy is no stranger to adversity.
In April 2020 — one month into the COVID-19 pandemic — Dakin’s customer base dried up and the dairy was dumping 7,000 gallons of fresh milk every day. The pandemic took away the restaurants, other businesses and schools that were the core of Dakin Dairy’s market.
In 2017, Hurricane Irma lifted the roofs off several of Jerry Dakin’s barns, causing damage estimated at more than $250,000, but spared his cows.
With Irma knocking out power to millions of Floridians, no way to store the milk and markets shut down, Dakin had to dump more than 50,000 gallons of skim milk.
This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 4:59 PM.
