Fortin Farm loses 8 heifers to lightning strike

We reached our goal!!  I can’t even believe what this community has done for our family. I never expected this. Your help has been more than we could’ve hoped for. We will leave this up a little longer if any feels the need to donate still I promise it will not go to waste. There is always more expenses that need to be covered on a farm. And plenty of community events and fundraisers that we would love to give back to after all of this. 

Hi, my name is John Fortin. My family has been farming and raising cattle in central Maine since the early 1900’s. I am fundraising to help my family recoup some cost from a tragic event we experienced on Saturday September 18th around 6:00 pm. We had just finished up wrapping some silage bales as we are nearing the end of our hay season when it started to rain. Then came the thunder and lightning. I received a phone call from our neighbor where we pasture part of our herd. Which often means the cows got out, but not today. He called to tell me that a large Pine tree on the property had just been struck by lightning and we had dead cows laying underneath it. Not just one, but eight! Eight heifers that were just coming into time to breed and produce calf’s for years to come. A loss to our family farm that is truly invaluable. With the amount of time raising and caring for these animals they are practically irreplaceable. Unfortunately our farm insurance only covers liability on the animals and not the actually loss of the animals. We are just a small farm of proud men and women who don’t ask for a lot and are always willing to lend a hand to help or donate what we can. But I believe this loss could truly set us back years if not lead to the end of our farm.

 

I know what I’m asking may seem like a lot and I don’t expect to recoup all of it. But any donation would help us to find another animal and keep the farming tradition going in central Maine in a time when it seems like every time you turn around another family farm is being sold off.    

If you would rather mail a check our mailing address is 459 Cushman Rd. Winslow, ME. 04901.