DORSET TOWNSHIP — Comp Dairy Farm is nearing full strength after months of rebuilding, transporting cows and assistance from a variety of sources.
“The barns are back full again,” said Jerry Comp, who led the rebuild of the family farm, which has been milking cows for several generations.
He said there are 1,072 cows being milked at the farm.
On Sept. 22, 2024, fire ripped through one barn and damaged parts of others, forcing cows to be evacuated by trailer.
The cows all returned to the farm several months ago after the assistance of farmers all over Northeast Ohio and surrounding regions, Comp said.
He said the tradeoff was the farmers assisting paid for the feed and upkeep of the animals, and received the milk in exchange for their assistance. He said many donations from the community made the process possible, as they waited for the rebuilding of the farm.
A barn used to house sick cows and those recovering after giving birth has its roof in place, but internal elements are still being worked on.
Comp said all the details will hopefully be completed by winter.
One of the few blessings in the reconstruction process is the new building has a much higher, peaked roof.
“We used to have to shovel the roof,” he said of the former building.
Comp said most of the concrete in the barns had to be replaced. There are still places where scarring from the fire can be seen, he said
Many of the cows returned to the farm last winter and they continued to return into the spring.
“The cows seemed to enjoy being home,” Comp said.
He said they were mooing loudly as they were led back to their barns.
Some major equipment was destroyed in the fire and is just now being replaced, Comp said.
“Everything goes slow these days,” he said.
Comp continues to marvel at how many people assisted the farm during its time of need. He said he has been very lucky.
In addition to donations, Comp said there have been many people have helped with little things during the whole process.
The night of the fire, flames and smoke filled the sky as farm workers gathered cows and prepared to put them in trailers that showed up to assist.
The process lasted all night and continued the following morning, as the cows were moved to their new, short-term homes, Firefighters were still on-site the following morning, watering down hot spots.