Photo: RNZ / Liz Garton
The big dry continued in Northland this week with not a spot of rain to relieve drought conditions. Farmers would normally send their cattle off to the works in these circumstances but the freezing works are jam packed and chillers are full of product which hasn't been shipped off to China because of uncertainty around the effects of the Wuhan coronavirus. A consultant told us farmers are doing it tough and would welcome an official drought declaration. Obviously animal welfare is the most important thing but not all have the luxury of supplementary feed like maize, silage or palm kernel.
Around Pukekohe, a brief shower on Tuesday night was the nearest the district came to receiving some rain. With constant wind flow afterwards, all evidence was soon lost. Preparing dry, hard soils for winter planting only extends to subsoiling. Without rain or irrigation, cultivating the soils to a fine tilth is near impossible. This situation is frustrating and challenging.
Bay of Plenty needs rain too. It's been incredibly dry. There was rain forecast this week but nothing transpired. Hopefully that forecast for Monday will come. Any moisture in the air is sapped by an annoying dry wind which has slowed the vigour of kiwifruit vines. Final thinning and cleaning up is being done, however, but the work flow is slower than usual. A consultant wanted to remind farmers and orchardists under pressure they shouldn't forget about organisations like the Rural Support Trust which can help - by providing a truckload of feed for instance.
The dry hot weather in Waikato is placing pressure on people, stock and supplies of water and feed. There's a bit more on hand in parts of the south but farmers are working their way through feed crops and silage if they have them. Some maize crops in the ground are showing signs of lack of moisture which will influence final yields. Cows are holding their condition despite the weather but a consultant says farmers will have to think about drying off their lighter animals. Milk production is holding at lower levels, but the longer the dry continues, the worse it'll get.
Photo: RNZ/Susan Murray
The King Country had some rain this week but not really enough to do any good. The dry weather has been exacerbated by wind. A farmer told us his lambs are not weighing as good as they should but they're holding ok. Cattle are being sorted with fatter ones off to the works. It's been stinking hot as he goes about his jobs like hay making and general maintenance.
It's the same story in Taranaki ... dry and windy conditions are starting to bite and farmers are running out of grass. Our sharemilker has a crop of turnips and silage though to keep his cows going after the good spring. But he's looking to once a day milking at the end of the month. He's heard of some who are already milking at that lower rate. Most farmers are pregnancy scanning. He's got 100 percent of his heifers in calf and the rest of the herd at a better rate than last year put down to good winter and spring conditions.
Dry conditions in Hawke's Bay, photograph taken from Te Mata Peak. Photo: 123RF
A long run of 30 plus degrees in Hawke's Bay has put apples at risk of sunburn and a sunburnt apple becomes a reject. But growers are trying to cool down their orchards rolling back reflective cloth, keeping the grass long and irrigating to keep losses at bay. Preparations are underway for the royal gala harvest - which gets underway next week. A beef farmer we speak to says the hot dry weather is normal for February in the Bay. He says his feed situation is good and stock are fine as long as rain comes by the end of February.
It's been another week of no rain in Manawatū and significant concern for farmers. It's never easy when it's getting hotter and drier and you're starting to run out of feed about three weeks ahead of normal. Dairy cows are on high supplements. Feed crops are coming on early so yields might be lower. The works are tight and cancelling space means stock are having to be kept on farm and that's stressful for farmers. It's the last thing they need at the moment.
A Wairarapa farmer says his farm's browned off with no effective rain this week. His stock are in good condition though with lamps on a crop of rape and ewes on turnips. Fodder crops are holding but will be under stress in the dry. He's been draughting lambs for sale and trying to get cattle to the freezing works.
Apple picking's underway in the Nelson/Motueka region. Early pears are coming off too. The plum and peach season's coming to an end while apricot picking finished a couple of weeks ago. Apart from a light shower or two, there's been no rain to speak of this week, so irrigation systems are going full bore in orchards. Water rationing is in place across the Waimea Plains and the fire risk is climbing.
Blenheim vineyard. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades
Hill farms in Marlborough have turned a sandy brown. Our contact near Blenheim's had a mere 2mm of rain his week. It's cooled off a bit too after temperatures reached 36 degrees earlier in the week. Stock are on slow summer rotation. In the province's vineyards, getting water to grapes is paramount now that they they're starting to soften up. Rainfall at the head of the Wairau River has raised flow levels and might delay irrigation restrictions.
A West Coast farmer in the Grey Valley was relieved to get some rain as it's been getting dry. This week there's 50mm in the gauge. Cows are ticking along but not breaking any records. Tractor work's in full swing as farmers get last year's winter crops back into grass.
Canterbury's finally had some rain with up to 20mm falling this week after over a month with none. More is required to get pastures and winter feed crops growing. Feed levels remain tight, however farmers expect grass to kick into gear quickly with the cooler temperatures and rain on irrigated land. Because of the dry conditions freezing works space is limited and that's also impacting prices for store and prime animals.
Gorge Road - Fortrose road near Titiroa River Bridge Photo: Heather Smith
Flooding in South Otago is starting to subside. A sheep and beef farmer near Balclutha recorded 185mm of rain in 48 hours this week. He says he's never seen it fall with such intensity. Eighty hectares of his land that borders the Clutha River was under two metres of water, but it's mostly gone now and there's not too much damage apart from fences being clogged up with branches and residue carried by the fast river flows. A metre of water filled the covered yards around his shearing shed too so shearing's on hold until they dry out. There's plenty of feed around though so stock are doing okay.
Our Contact at Waimahaka just east of Invercargill in Southland says due to the Mataura River flooding, Fonterra tankers have not be able to reach his farm and so far they've had to dump 21,000 litres of milk. The farm's had about 100mm of rainfall but the ground took most of it in as it was so dry. He says south of the hilly property, along the lower reaches of the Mataura River, whitebaiting huts were totally submerged under water.
Another dairy farmer near Gore says he's lost 20 hectares of farmland along the Mataura River. Paddocks of grass are now covered in gravel and large rocks. The flooding's destroyed hundreds of hectares of crops in the region and 1000's of bales of baleage are believed to have been swept away. The farmer says he's only just getting his head around what's happened but everyone's pulling together to support each other.
Flooding around a property in Southland. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd
