Photo: supplied
Conditions have been pleasant on Northland farms this week and a potential drought has been averted. Our contact says it's all a farmer could wish for. However the big concern now is the delays at the meatworks with Omicron in the community. With the infection in schools it will make its way onto farms and Federated Farmers has a team geared up to help out. Despite the local DHB working hard to ensure vaccination, the lower than national vaccination rate is a worry, but if farmers and their workers have to go into hospital there are people ready to go on farm to ensure animal welfare and other important jobs are done.
Fine hot weather has continued this week around Pukekohe. Temperatures of 27 degrees and above have stressed many crops. Without irrigation, crop failure would be the result. Much of the land is presently bare as growers prepare it for their next crops or think of alternatives. Export markets can't be guaranteed, materials are in short supply as is available labour. We're told some difficult decisions may need to be made.
A Waikato farmer has harvested his maize but it's a bit wind damaged. After the 110 millimeters of rain over the past two weeks, things are now dry and crispy from the wind. They need follow-up rain to keep them going through autumn. Stock are doing well on farm. The farmer says he's managed to get his stock to the works ok but with the Omicron outbreak surging, people need to be reminded to take bookings when they can. The staff pressure is only going to get worse. It now takes weeks to get replacement parts if machinery breaks making it extremely difficult for things like feeding out.
There has been plenty of growth in King Country with great rain and warm temperatures during the day although it is cooling off at night.
A Bay of Plenty dairy farmer whose power was knocked out by the storm for four days last week is pleased to have his cows back milking in his own shed. He had to walk them 20 minutes up to the neighbour's last week and back again. The first day the cows thought it was an adventure, the second day they thought they'd have a recce in a neighbouring kiwifruit orchard, although luckily didn't tuck into the fruit. He says the grass growth is phenomenal for February although it needs a bit more ME - metabolizable energy. He's able to make grass silage with the surplus. Dairy farmers wonder how they will manage the need to isolate if Omicron gets on farm. Milking is an arduous task for one person alone and it's hard to keep your space from other workers especially in a herringbone shed. As for kiwifruit there is a lot of fruit out there but not a lot of people. A grower was busy sussing out ideas for managing the harvest when we called.
Maize harvest Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The maize silage harvest has started in Taranaki - it's benefited from a fine week after the rain earlier. Yields appear strong and it looks like there hasn't been too much wind damage to the crop.
The weather has been good in Hawke's Bay for the apple harvest. Cooler nights are colouring them up. Picking of the early harvest varieties like Royal Gala is well underway. Pacific Beauty is all done. They're ten days to two weeks away from Dazzle and Jazz. Everyone's big fear is getting Covid in the orchard over harvest so segregation is key with gangs separated and being careful not to get close while picking or socialising. Hort-consultants are allowed to go on orchard to look at the trees but not see the people - to avoid spreading Omicron across orchards.
A farmer in Rangiwahia in Manawatu has enjoyed a fine week after a lot of rain. It broke the drought in some areas and caused mild flooding in others. Everything is beautifully green. She's rotating ewes and tails are coming off lambs which are being drafted monthly. They are not yielding as much in terms of carcass weight which is a bit of a mystery.
A vintner just out of Martinborough in Wairarapa is waiting patiently for his grapes to ripen. The nets are on, the birds are no worse than normal and some sun this week has helped dry things out as grapes head into the late stage of ripening. The heavy rain of the last couple weeks has not caused him too much worry as he is far enough away from harvest that it's not an issue.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Royal Gala, smitten and cox apples are being picked this week in the Nelson/Motueka region. Fruit quality is outstanding. A lack of seasonal workers is a problem though, with some orchards at 20 percent of normal staffing levels, so everyone's helping each other out. With a big crop it's a worry. A grower told us there are hardly any kiwis or backpackers around despite signs out everywhere advertsising jobs.
Our contact in Marlborough was shifting a mob of merino wethers when we called. He says 220 millimetres of rain over the past three weeks has done wonders for pasture. On the lower country it's growing at 30 kilos of dry matter per hectare per day. A copious amount of sub-clover is giving ewes a boost before the ram goes out. Farmers are looking at weaning calves early as there's so much feed around. In the province's vineyards, botrytis and powdery mildew are not too bad considering all the recent moisture. Vines are looking healthy and no one's had to irrigate for a while. Some hand picking might start soon but the main sauvignon blanc harvest's still three or four weeks away.
A Barrytown farmer on the West Coast has been clearing a build-up of gravel out of his creek. It was caused by the recent flooding - but otherwise he says the farm wasn't too badly effected. Pregnancy testing's underway on heifers with the cows to follow. Silage is still being made on the run-off, fertiliser is being applied and paddocks are being re-grassed.
Whitecilffs, Canterbury Photo: Michael Godfrey
The cool damp season continues in Canterbury. Grass growth is above average but dairy farmers are reporting reduced milk flows. The grain and seed harvest is behind normal due to the lack of harvest able days. The positive is that prices for milk, lamb and beef are at very good levels.
Central Otago is looking a picture. After 52 millimetres of rain six weeks ago and then another 20 last week, winter feed crops are shooting out of the ground. Some farmers have even done a third cut of lucerne when normally they'd get one or two. Most people have harvested their crops. The bulk of it consists of oats and barley but there's also wheat on heavier country. The hot and moist conditions are perfect for flies so sheep are being dipped as a precaution. On Monday it's the Oturehua Ewe Fair. This year about 2000 half bred ewes are expected to go under the hammer at the sale yards behind the community hall.
A dairy farmer at Edendale in Southland says conditions are still dry despite getting 30 millimetres of rain last weekend. Another 30 would be welcome, but in the meantime cows are getting an extra feed of baleage and palm kernel. Now that pregnancy testing results are coming in, it's getting hard to find space for cull cows at the works. The farmer is concerned about what will happen if or when staff need to self-isolate. One staff member is unvaccinated too which is creating another managerial challenge. On the up side though it's the biggest pay-out on record so he says dairy farmers who are still complaining need to take a step back and think about others that are in a far worse situation.
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
