Country Life: Conditions on the farm

It has become very dry in Northland-Te Tai Tokerau.

Our farmer contact near Whangārei has had about 100mm in the past month but strong winds have evaporated most of the region's rain.

Many farmers have destocked so there are good stocks of feed.

He says on-farm costs remain high, especially transport.

In Pukekohe, conditions are also dry and wind has caused some damage to sensitive crops.

Excellent onions are now being harvested for storage in packing sheds though growers are apprehensive about the export market.

Indoor tomato growers are also nervous that the brown rugose fruit virus, now in Australia, will eventually arrive in New Zealand.

It is also dry in Waikato where many farmers are feeding out supplementary feed.

Some have also implemented longer grazing rotations and flexible milking.

Maize crops are high yielding, though.

In a few weeks time they will have pregnancy scanning results for dairy cows which most are optimistic about.

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Our Taranaki contact says things are "not very pretty", with large parts of the coastline facing drought-like conditions due to strong winds.

She says supplementary feed is being fed out and bought up, and many have moved to once a day milking.

Cashflow is good though, and with a forecast dairy payout of 10 dollars per kilogram of milk solids, the mood is still positive.

Meanwhile Bay of Plenty growers have seen "some really nice rainfall" with things well set up for a good harvest.

The apple harvest has been a bit early this year so it seems likely to be the same for kiwifruit.

Returns are better for avocado growers but it is still "not a happy industry".

East Coast-Te Tai Rāwhiti was on the verge of looking at a drought response before the rain set in.

Between mid-December and the New Year, our sheep and beef farmer contact had about 310mm.

The rain was especially hard for growers, with conditions too wet to harvest.

Things are good on the facial eczema and flystrike front, though drench resistance remains a concern.

Hawke's Bay farmers have also seen a turnaround with things looking "quite lush".

Our farmer had about 80mm of rain in December.

He says the rain was a "real lifesaver" as he was two weeks away from having to feed out.

A lot of stock had been sold due to the dry and they're now hard to find - last week there were no cattle for sale at Stortford Lodge yards.

Fodder crops have bounced back and the sweetcorn harvest is soon to start, along with apples.

Many Manawatū-Rangitikei farmers also came out of the pre-Christmas dry okay, with 150mm of rain in the last month.

Farmers are not making a profit, but they are not losing as much as they thought they would be, one agent told us.

Most are busy drafting lambs, pulling out cull ewes and prepping fly protection.

It is a similar story in Wairarapa where most are in a good position having gone into the summer with very little stock.

It means there is "oodles of feed" and most farmers are buying cattle or holding onto lambs.

The store market is going strong - a good thing, at least for the sellers.

Meanwhile Horowhenua has been unseasonably cold with one grower even lighting the fire.

It has been bad for summer crops like zucchini and watermelon but the asian greens - like pak choy and coriander - have done okay and are currently being harvested.

There has been good steady crop volumes and reasonable quality.

A jump in demand has helped growers on the price front.

Across Cook Strait to Tasman - Te Tai o Aorere and in Golden Bay, it has been a super season for dairy farmers after a dry start to the summer.

There has been enough rain to keep grass ticking along and milk production is well up.

Further east, Marlborough's vineyards are only several weeks away from harvest.

They are carrying a heavy crop so our contact, at the request of the company that buys the fruit, is taking off up to 10 percent of the grapes before they soften.

On farms, soil moisture levels are well up on last year and stock are in excellent health.

Merino properties are in lamb-weaning mode - several weeks behind lower and coastal farms, that wean early to beat the dry.

A hill country farmer near Blenheim says he is about to start sowing rape and sub-clover at the same time.

The rape's eaten in winter and the clover comes up in spring.

His 2-year-old cattle are trading $200 to 300 ahead and good money is being paid for cull cows too.

South Westland is dry.

A Whataroa dairy farmer says it is one of the driest summers she can remember.

It has been very hot too.

A bit of rain this week has not been enough to green-up parched paddocks, that have high gravel content.

Soil moisture levels are down to 4 percent. Normally they're over 50.

Milking is going okay though - cows are on a 10 in 7 milking schedule and winter feed crops are going into the ground.

In Canterbury our farmer was heading to the Hawarden Ewe fair.

He was on bar duties in the rugby clubrooms for the after-sale gathering.

He says rain in the first two weeks of January has been a blessing. Every second day he would wake up to persistent light showers.

As a result, stock have plenty of feed and winter crops are looking good.

A farmer in Central Otago's Ida Valley was doing a second cut of lucerne when Country Life called.

Barley is being harvested too.

Some good rainfall after Christmas gave fodder beet, turnips and swede crops a welcome boost.

With store lamb prices at $3.60-$3.70 a kilo, a lot of lambs are on the move.

Sheep are being dipped to reduce fly strike, while as a precaution, merinos and half breds have been troughed for scald.

That's a skin infection that can cause lameness when underfoot conditions are wet.

On roadsides, fruit stalls are full of juicy apricots and peaches.

It has been a mixed bag of weather this week in Murihiku - Southland. Sun, rain and unseasonably chilly.

Lots of baleage has been made and barley and wheat harvesting is underway, but it has been a bit stop-start due to intermittent rainfall.

Our contact in Gore says dairy farmers are still recovering from the very wet spring.

Damaged paddocks have been re-grassed and high empty rates in pregnant cows are being attributed to the wettest spring on record.

A steady stream of lambs is going to the works and surplus ewes are being culled.