A cow at Blackwell Dairy farm in Kamloops.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Blackwell Dairy farm

Workers on a dairy farm in Kamloops are scrambling to fill the gap in the southern interior's milk supply following the catastrophic rainstorm that caused flooding, mudslides and damaged roads on the main supply routes to the Lower Mainland. 

Ted Blackwell is the owner of the iconic Blackwell Dairy farm that serves individuals and retail outlets in Kamloops and the Okanagan.

He and his team are working overtime this week to meet a demand unlike he has ever seen before.

“The stores are taking all the milk they can get,” Blackwell said. “Our parking lot is full and there is a steady lineup of customers waiting to get into our store to buy milk and some meat. We have volunteers packaging and answering phones and employees who are working longer hours. We are all being run off our feet.”

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One of the things that makes this farm unique is that they have their own processing plant. This means, unlike many other producers, Blackwell does not have to send its milk for processing in Vancouver.

“These kinds of unfortunate scenarios can happen when most of the milk processing happens at the Lower Mainland,” he said. “We produce our milk that goes into a bulk tank that is cooled and inspected. Every other day we process and package our milk right here, and deliver it to stores. Sometimes we source out when we need a bit of extra.”

Blackwell Dairy farm is working to fill the gap in milk supplies due to broken supply routes.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Blackwell Dairy farm

Blackwell Dairy also sources out for caps and labels, so he expects to come to a production limit eventually. Current demands are far higher than normal and his company is not prepared to meet them fully. He is maxed out on employees that can fill the extra hours.

“We have a good customer base throughout the Interior including retail outlets,” he said. “We have to look after them first. We are doing everything we can. Some employees and volunteers are working 12-hour shifts, you only find this kind of teamwork and dedication in the farming community.”

Blackwell said the current situation for the farmers in the province is heartbreaking. Hundreds of farms have been affected by flooding, many of them in the Fraser Valley, and thousands of farm animals have died.

“We are going through a tough time in the industry,” he said. “With this flooding, some fellow farmers had to drive away and leave their cattle behind to die. Farmers in the province are being told they have to dump their milk because there is nowhere to send it. Many of them are sending it here and we are taking as much as we can.”

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Despite the challenges, he is overwhelmed by the amount of positive community work he is seeing around him.

“We are grateful for our volunteers and farming community,” Blackwell said. “Everything we have goes back into our local economy and we take pride in what we do. Our philosophy is there should be local supply and local support.”

On a social media post, Blackwell Dairy farm asked customers to reach out to local farmers.

“Lots of them have stock in their cold storage,” the post said. “Your local butcher shops often have store fronts to supply everyone with amazing local products. Check in with your neighbours, some have eggs. Take care of each other and be kind.”

Blackwell Dairy farm in Kamloops began in 1913.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Blackwell Dairy farm

Blackwell Dairy farm began in 1913 and has been passed down through the family since. The family has herds of both dairy cows and cattle. The processing plant was built in 1983. The farm in located in the Barnhartvale, Kamloops. Their customers are spread throughout the Thompson and Okanagan regions.

While it is unclear at this time when major routes will be restored in the Interior, Blackwell said his farm crew will "just keep carrying on."

— This story was corrected at 2:33 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, 2021. The original version erroneously reported Blackwell Dairy had the only processing plant outside the Lower Mainland.

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