Southland Farmers are counting the cost last weeks major cold snap with losses running high.

More than half of all the new lambs born in Southland this season have been lost to last week’s blizzards.

Federated Farmers president Don Nicholson says at least 500,000 lambs have perished.

He says it’s a terrible blow to the morale of farmers, and at $100 a lamb the cost runs to $50 million or more.

Mr Nicholson says a lot of adult sheep have also died, and for dairy farmers milk production has dropped of as well.