Pukekohe's potatoes are being harvested and Marlborough's pear crop is looking light so very little thinning's required. On the Farm is a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
A weaner fair in Northland this week left farmers smiling with very good prices achieved ... autumn born heifers fetched over $700 and weaner bulls averaged between $500 and $600. Our contact in the Kaipara area says this week has been pleasant with just enough rainfall to sustain good growth on the sandy soils of the area and farmers are well set up for the summer.
Much reduced rainfall of 10 millimetres fell around Pukekohe this week. Growing conditions remain favourable in the warmer sunny weather and potatoes are being harvested in increasing quantities.
A blueberry grower in Waikato says outdoor grown fruit has just come into production this week. Up until now it's been blueberries grown in tunnel houses that you've seen on supermarket shelves. The season looks like it's going to be a good one with good supply leading into Christmas. There's been little rain to speak of in the last couple of weeks. Growers with water storage will be OK but groundwater levels - after below average rainfall of the past three years - are a cause for concern.
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
A dairy farmer in Bay of Plenty has been taking advantage of a fine week to make hay while the sun shines. He's been on his tractor making silage. He was expecting up to 26 degrees on Friday and says the trick is to maintain grass quality for good milk production in such warm temperatures. He says some contractors in the area are doing horrendous hours because of a shortage of drivers. Good prices have been achieved at beef calf sales. Gold kiwifruit growers are pleased with the latest price forecast for November of $11.05 a tray, taking returns to just under $170,000 a hectare.
South Taranaki needs a good dose of rain and dairy farmers there are getting a wee bit nervous. Good November and December rain is critical to be set up well for the summer season. The northern and central parts of the province are OK but southern parts have missed out. A lot of silage is being made, turnips and maize crops are going in and bulls have been out mating. Now just the rain, please.
Over to Gisborne and it's go go go on farms - with calf marking and lambs being weaned. Farmers are enjoying the high commodity prices and are getting as many lambs away to the works as they can while the money's good and just in case Covid gets into meatworks. Store lambs are fetching good prices too.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Hawke's Bay had welcome showers earlier in the week and there's been good growth. Farmers had been wanting some more heat to help finish lambs. Lamb prices are the strongest farmers have ever seen. An ag consultant says despite reports of low vaccination rates in rural areas every farmer he knows has been double vaxxed.
Fifteen millimetres of rain at the start of the week and some good warm conditions are just what the doctor ordered for Manawatū. Most of the tractor work is done and crops are in. Lambs have sun on their backs now and docking numbers have been really good. But the lack of sunshine over the spring period means lamb weights are down by up to 15 percent and ewe condition is below par too. A consultant is recommending farmers hold off sending their lambs to the works because there are strong signals from the meat companies that things will be slow - they're finding it difficult to staff certain jobs on the chain.
A sheep and beef farmer in Wairarapa says a good dollop of rain is needed. The region has had hot fine weather and even a cooler southerly did not bring the rain that's needed. Arable farmers, too, are doing a rain dance to bring their crops along. But it's a different story in the vineyards where it's been a perfect week for flowering ... last year cold, wet weather at this time contributed to a nationwide shortage of Sauvignon Blanc. An organic grower tells us she's busy lifting wires, shoot thinning and bud rubbing as well as weed eating under the vines. The vineyard's looking a picture but they're having to book in labour well ahead of time as the vineyards are sharing fewer people to do the work.
A sheep takes in the view from a hilltop on the Wairarapa coast Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Despite some showers on Sunday the ground's starting to dry out in the Nelson region. Irrigation systems in some orchards have been flicked on. Commercial peony picking's finished. The grower we talked too says the early corals did okay, but volumes of the later Sarah Bernhardt variety, that's pastel pink with large double flowers, were well down on last year. Overall, the stems were shorter too. Normally they average 600 millimetres in height but because they only got to 500, the price went down by 20 to 30 cents a stem. A lack of winter chilling and wet weather has meant the local stone fruit crop's expected to be lower than usual, ditto for pears. An orchard owner near Richmond says he hasn't got much chemical or hand thinning to do on his Taylors Gold pear trees. The thinning's being done without needing extra staff and will be finished before Christmas.
North facing hills are at wilt point in Marlborough. This is typical for this time of the year though. Lambs are being weaned and unloaded. A farmer near Blenheim says he hopes to have 65 percent of them away by Christmas. It was cold in October so carcass weights are down from 18 or 19 kilos to 16. The lamb schedule is a pleasing $9.30 a kilo. A spanner in the works is that processing space is tight. Plant growth has motored in the province's vineyards. Pinot and chardonnay blocks are in flower.
On the West Coast, a Grey Valley farmer was moving cows into shed in preparation for the AI technician when we rang. His herd's about half way though the insemination process. He says milk production's not breaking any records this season due to the wet and cold spring. Despite some rain earlier in the week, conditions underfoot are fine for tractor work, so baleage is being made and paddocks are being cultivated for crops.
It's been a good week of weather in Canterbury although everyone is pretty keen for the rain forecast for the weekend. Farmers are busy making baleage with plenty being cut and wrapped up for use in the winter. Native plantings on farms throughout Canterbury are starting to bear fruit with bell birds appearing in places that they have never been seen before. A huge number of pants have gone in over the last few years - they're still establishing and so even more birds are expected.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
With rain falling over the past few weekends and warm days in between, grass growth's been excellent in Central Otago. Everyone's busy making hay, silage and baleage. Fodder beet has been sown and swedes and turnips are going in. Lamb marking on crossbreds and half breds is in full swing, after that it's the merinos. Lamb percentages are up on last year. A farmer whose land borders the Otago Central Rail Trail says the trail's been missing Aucklanders and Australians, but bookings are picking up for summer.
A Southland dairy farmer at Edendale says it's been the best late spring in five years. The rain's been coming at the right time and a good dollop earlier in the week was welcomed by all. He says with the cows milking well, the excellent pay-out and the agreeable weather, there's a smile on the dial of most southern dairying folk.
