A lifelong dairy farmer in Oneida County is crushed by the loss of an estimated 60 mostly pregnant cows after a barn recently collapsed under feet of snow.  

“Ever since the first four days of January, we got 75 inches here and that’s just kept coming. It never melted and last Tuesday night, we got another three feet here,” said Richard Pedersen, owner of Pedersen family farm.  

Pedersen, 77, said they currently milk about 100 cows, but they were estimating to grow their herd to about 140 after their pregnant heifers gave birth. Veterinarians are still examining the 26 cows they were able to save but they know they lost about 50 to 60 in the collapse.

The collapsed barn at the Pedersen farm. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

“We’ve never seen nothing like this. It’s going to set us back for I don’t know how long to get back to normal, maybe never,” Pedersen said.  

The barn began to fall under the weight of the snow around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Pedersen said. Neighbors came with equipment to help save the animals they could.

“They were leading them out one at a time. You could see some of them limping a little bit, it was hard to even look at,” Pedersen said, holding back tears. “It’s hard.”  

A heifer that survived the collapse and was being examined by the veterinarian. "These animals have been through war," Pedersen said. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

He estimates the cows he lost were worth about $3,000 to $4,000 apiece as purebred Holstein milk cows, and they will need to buy animals to replace some of the ones they lost.

Jason Oliver, a dairy environmental systems engineer with Cornell University’s Pro-Dairy program, said the way barns are built makes it difficult to clear snow.  

“These structures can be hard to get on top of and when you get four feet-plus of snow and ice, it’s heavy and tiresome, and to find crews of people to actually get up there and do that, is not easy,” Oliver said.

Neighbors helped stabilize the milk house by placing beams inside. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

Managing mortality during these catastrophic events is something that Oliver said can be difficult as well, but there are multiple methods.  

“One of them is to just have a renderer come pick up the animals. There are some landfills that will take (dead animals), and farms can also do some burial on their property as long as they are doing it in accordance with the CAFO and New York State’s environmental regulations,” Oliver said.  

Pedersen said they built this barn last summer, and now it is going to house the cows that survived the collapse. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) permit is required for farms with over 300 cows. Pedersen is not required to have this permit so the dead animals will go to a landfill once the insurance company approves it.  

“Our hearts go out for these producers when they are dealing with these challenges. I think it’s important for them to know that they do have a strong community and a lot of resources available to them,” Oliver said.  

"Hey there, girls," Pedersen said as he greeted the healthy cows. (Emily Kenny/Spectrum News 1)

A few other farms reported collapsed barns including Insight Dairy, another Oneida County dairy producer.  

Many people have come to help move snow at the Pedersen farm, and his family members started a GoFundMe page to assist with the financial burden of this loss. Pedersen is hopeful this won’t put them out of business.  

“We’re gonna get back, that’s our goal,” he said.