Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Grass is climbing out of the ground around the North Island and Otago has had a 26 degree day and a frost this week. Find out more in our wrap of what's happening on the farms and orchards of New Zealand.
Farmers in Northland couldn't have asked for a better mix of weather this week ... with the sunshine and rain, everything's exploded ... in a good way! Sales have quietened down as there's no need to sell with so much grass around. There's enough feed for six weeks out but under the ground it's still dry. Space has freed up at the works and farmers are a lot more confident.
Around Pukekohe the 35mm of rainfall at the start of the week, accompanied by warm temperatures, was too stimulating for some vegetables. Because there's weak consumer demand and declining crop quality, parts of some maturing vegetable fields have been bypassed.
Southern Waikato has had its fair share of rain. The farmer we spoke to says grass is just bolting out of the ground so he's calling contractors in this weekend to make baleage just in case things turn dry in the summer. Bulls are out running with the cows. Next week the weaner calves will be sorted and decisions made about which ones to keep and which to put on the market.
A farmer in King Country had 40 mm in the gauge at the beginning of the week. When we rang the sun was out and she was set to start shearing and dagging hoggets. It's early days yet but she's heard the good reliable shearers are being offered a bit of extra money this year with the predicted labour shortage. Early lambs are being drenched. Some are already heading off to the works. Dairy farmers are making silage like crazy.
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
A sheep farmer near Te Puke in Bay of Plenty has had 198 mm of rain so far this month and says farms higher than his will have had even more. That's a huge relief after 56 mms last month and drying winds to boot. He says grass is climbing out of the ground. Bees in kiwifruit orchards will have been on strike during the rain - that will be a concern for growers with flowering vines
The same rain system that soaked Napier passed through Gisborne this week, giving the area a pretty good drenching but no damage, according to a consultant we spoke to. No one really has any feed issues now and farmers are quite happy, he says. There's been the first significant kill of lambs at about seven dollars a kilo which is fine but there's some nervousness around store stock. A Farm of the Year field day looking at deer velvet production drew dozens of farmers.
Hawkes Bay's growing areas received a quarter or slightly more of Napier's 200 mms of rain this week. The rain has caused cherries to split and growers are hoping it won't have damaged apricots and nectarines which are approaching harvest. Strawberries are in good supply. Aquifers will have received a welcome top up.
Strawberries are in good supply. Photo: 123RF
A farmer in Manawatū says the countryside's booming. Docking's finished and people have good tallies. He's been enjoying having a yarn with ram buyers who've visited and everyone seems pretty happy. People are not too disappointed at lamb prices even though they're back two dollars from last years nine dollars a kilogramme. Most have their feed crops in the ground. And the new baby is doing well too!
Grass is bolting away in Wairarapa. Masterton had its monthly average rainfall in one day earlier in the week and on the coast, there was up to 100 mms. The thermometer then dropped, slowing growth a wee bit, but it warmed up later. Our contact says his farm cover grew by about 200kg this week. With more rain expected next week, everyone's flat out mowing baleage. Contractors are working around the clock. One tractor driver reported he'd been doing a hundred hours a week for months. Fatigue is a concern.
Calves on a Manawatū dairy farm Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The big news for the Nelson region is its drought committee has gone on hold for a month. It has been meeting every fortnight all year - even in winter - but with 200 mms of rain falling in the past two and a half weeks over a big chunk of the province, committee members are having a breather. The rain's given grass growth a huge boost but, because it's been overcast and damp, silage contractors have only been able to swing into action in the last couple of days. Their phones have been ringing off the hook. Grape growers have been trying to spray vines between showers. Hops are quickly climbing up the strings. It's mating time on dairy farms and on sheep farms the first lambs are starting to go to the works.
Over in Marlborough, the region's had about 80 mms this month compared to October's 22 mm. The cherry harvest is just getting underway but the heavy rain's caused the fruit to split which could have taken out most of the early supply.
The West Coast has finally had glorious sunshine and there are a few sunburnt farmers around. The region's been able to dry out a bit and baling contractors are now able to make some money and are working flat out. Ag Fest - the West Coast Fieldays - is on this weekend in Greymouth. Stallholders will be hoping Westland dairy farmers, who are now getting a much better payout after the sale of their co-op, will splash some if it about.
Canterbury's had some fantastic rain with 50mm across the plains. There'll be a lot of baleage and silage to be made in the next few weeks. Winter feed sowing has mostly finished with good establishment of crops so far. A farmer says he's just finished planting his last crop - hemp for fibre.
Photo: supplied Riley Kennedy
The Mackenzie Basin, near Twizel, has had perfect farming weather with nice long warm days and a bit of moisture scattered about. A farmer says it's been a fairly quiet week ,the ewes are looking after their newborn lambs and the cows are up on the hill nowhere to be seen.
Central Otago's had a mixed bag of weather. Eight mms of rain on Sunday is keeping the grass growing, a frost on Tuesday put grape growers on alert, and on Thursday it was 26 degrees so our contact in the Ida Valley was thinking about pulling his stubbies on. On sheep farms everyone's lamb marking and hoggets that are not fit for breeding are off to the works. Cattle are in good condition but the schedule's not that flash. Despite there being hardly any overseas tourists we're told the Hayes Engineering Works museum at Oturehua and the indoor curling rink in Naseby are having their busiest month yet.
Photo: supplied Riley Kennedy
Southland is having a cracker of a week. An Edendale dairy farmer is getting crops in the ground and is topping grass to keep the quality up. The tops are then baled up for feed. Mating's in full swing. Artificial insemination technicians have been to his three farms every day for the past few weeks. Milk production is up 5 to 10 percent on last year, but that being said, 12 months ago conditions in the region were a lot more challenging than now.
On the Farm is a weekly wrap of farming conditions around New Zealand.
