Community Corner

Video: Sen. Blumenthal Tours Greenbacker Farm in Durham

Senator and local leaders get firsthand look at damage from January's storms

Nearly three weeks after heavy snow and ice caused a calf barn to collapse at Greenbacker Farm in Durham, leaving one of the animals dead and the farm scrambling to find space to make room for more than a dozen calves, Sen. Richard Blumenthal toured the farm Saturday to see the damage firsthand.

Blumenthal was joined by Department of Agriculture Commissioner Steven Reviczky, state Rep. Matt Lesser, D-100, Allison Dodge, Outreach Coordinator for Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, and several members of the Greenbacker family, including Melissa Greenbacker who recalled waking up in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 27 to find the barn collapsed.

“I was waking up every night dreading looking out of the window to see another barn collapsed,” Greenbacker said.

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That didn’t happen, but according to Reviczky about 340 farming structures were damaged statewide during January’s storms.

Last week Gov. Dannel P. Malloy requested federal assistance for the damage caused by the storm of Jan. 11 and 12.

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Blumenthal told Patch he was working closely with other state officials to determine the extent of the damages at farms, homes and businesses.

“We’re going to do everything possible to make sure the federal government assists these folks, which they have the right to expect,” he said. “I will urge the federal government to do the right thing."

Greenbacker led the tour, which began at the site of the Jan. 27 collapse. She pointed out the area where one of the farm’s calves was crushed to death under the metal beams bent to the ground by snow and ice (see video).

Several feet of snow remained piled on top of the barn’s collapsed roof, but Richard Greenbacker said the family must wait until the snow melts before they can begin dismantling it.

The group also visited the rear of the main barn, where more than a dozen of the displaced calves are being kept in temporary calf hutches. Melissa Greenbacker said the shelters were provided by farms in Willington, Franklin and Kensington and would be needed until the family can rebuild a permanent barn or make room in an existing barn.

“Five calves are being cared for by a farm in Wallingford,” Greenbacker said, adding that the animals would be there “at least until they’re weaned off of milk.”

Dodge said DeLauro’s office also plans to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Monday, to request assistance for farmers.


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