Flooding on farmlands in Maramanui. Photo: RNZ / Sam Olley
Wet Wet Wet - that's the consensus throughout the regions this week with torrential rain and fierce winds hammering some areas while snow blankets others.
In Northland deer, beef and sheep farmers are dealing with sodden ground and surface water up to seven centimetres high. This means hungry cattle are stomping through good grass and turning it into boggy paddocks. There's concern grass won't spring back, and just die. A Bay of Islands farmer is into the second week of lambing in sodden conditions. He's relieved the northerly wind isn't extremely cold as many of his Wiltshire ewes are dropping twins.
Around Pukekohe, although some improvement may be on the way, this week has continued wet with a further 80mm of rainfall. Vegetable growers needing to get their tractors on the fields invariably create a mess in the saturated soils. More tender crops like lettuce have suffered and in some instances crops are being bypassed due to their poor condition.
A saturated onion field in Pukekohe Photo: Stan Clark
That rain is keeping farms wet underfoot throughout the Waikato region. Calving's underway and at the same time the demand and price for silage, palm kernel and maize has risen. Many farmers used a lot of their own feed during the drought and are still a bit behind with regard to their pasture cover, so have been burning through feed supplies. Some need to buy in more feed than usual - which is putting pressure on supply companies to keep up.
In the King Country it's been time to do a bit of maintenance on boundary fences. Some farmers are vaccinating ewes before lambing next month and they're in a good condition. There's been a couple of weeks of steady rain and plenty of grass growing in mild weather which is unusual for this time of the year. There have been several slips on Taumaranui hillsides probably due to the constant rain after a pretty dry summer and autumn.
Photo: Michael Godfrey
Photo: RNZ/Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Over in Taranaki it's been wet too so cows are being kept off grass as much as possible to give it time to grow. The girls are getting a top up of silage, seaweed and maize. Dairy farmers have welcomed half a dozen young farm hands from Ireland and several others from the Philippines. This is the first time since Covid struck that international apprentices have been in the region to help and learn about milking and calving.
Kiwifruit pruning in the Bay of Plenty is running rather late thanks to the wet weather. An orchardist says they've started on the gold kiwifruit and anticipate moving onto the green variety in a month or so. There's just enough labour to go around but they come at a price - pruners are earning on average up to 15 percent more per hour compared to last year. RSE - Recognised Seasonal Employer workers from the Pacific Islands are filling many of the gaps.
On the East Coast fewer pine forests are being felled as international lumber prices have dropped considerably. At the same time fuel prices have shot up hence forestry owners are leaving trees to grow for longer while they consider their options. The soggy soil around Gisborne is taking its toll on lettuce and broccoli production. Farmers are also becoming a little frustrated with muddy paddocks as thier tractors are getting bogged down.
In Hawke's Bay farms that started lambing last month are looking forward to anticipated good prices at the sales before Christmas. Paddocks are also in good shape for stock with above average pasture growth. That's in stark contrast to the previous couple of years, when droughts lasting well into autumn led to an extreme shortage of feed. The outbreak of Bovine TB a couple of years ago near the Napier-Taupo Road continues to be contained and there aren't any reports of it spreading further.
Photo: Sally Round
All the rain has come as a bit of a shock for many in the Manawatu region. A local from Feilding says they've had two pretty mild winters, but this week's drenching is the complete opposite. Farms are well prepared with cattle and sheep in good condition, but paddocks are muddy and feed is being munched through. Cows are now calving which adds to the mix of winter concerns. Farmers are optimistic about meat prices but are keeping an eye on several freezing works they use, as there's concern if Covid returns with a vengeance, there may be delays for processing culled stock and even lambs later in the year.
In the Wairarapa it's been about survival as up to 100 millimetres of rain pelted parts of the region on Tuesday. Farmers have been spending the week moving cattle and sheep to higher paddocks as floodwaters crept up. One farmer said the water went over the top of some fences and this weekend's job is clearing the debris off the wires and fence posts. It's been too wet to feed out in lower pastures for some, and a close eye has been kept on cows about to start calving. Despite the flooding worries farmers say they were warned about the weather and acted accordingly to prevent stock losses.
Across Cook Strait, Nelson pastures were described as paddy fields as more than 80 millimetres of rain fell - and that was two days after an earlier dump of 30 mils. Local rivers over-flowed but drains were pretty clear, so more extensive flooding was avoided. Supplies of bailage are in demand as the heavy rain takes its toll on crops and grass. A few early lambs have started arriving and the sun peeked through later in the week for them.
Like most of the country Marlborough also had plenty of surface flooding but it didn't last and drained away fairly quickly. Vineyards are busy pruning Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris varieties, and then wrapping the vines around the wires. It's taking longer for contract gangs to prune this season as there have been a lot down days due to rain.
Photo: Dwayne Rennie
A West Coast farmer says there was a bit of wind and rain earlier in the week but nothing they don't usually expect. Power was out in Buller and in a few other areas for a period of time. A farmer near Hokitika says the coast escaped the harsh weather pretty lightly compared to many others. An impressive amount of snow can be seen on the Mount Cook range.
Canterbury has had a very wet start to the week with about 75 millimetres falling onto already sodden ground on the plains on Tuesday. Our contact says this caused some localized flooding on the day but by Wednesday morning the water was mostly gone. Very little damage was reported. Snow fell in the foothills, which everyone was well prepared for.
Further down south in Otago the weather in Balclutha has been described as reasonably mild with temperatures getting down to about five degrees overnight. Farmers appreciated the rainfall of about 42 millimetres this week saying they needed a decent drop. Still - there are plenty of puddles, and winter crops such as fodder beets and Swedes are lasting well for stock. Some farmers have been busy scanning their ewes for lamb numbers prior to lambing in September.
Finally for Southland the last week is being described as 'business as usual.' There have been a few flooded creeks but no major problems. Many cattle are on winter crops and being fed out to each day. Farmers say they missed the worst of this week's bad weather, and some early lambs are already skipping around paddocks.
Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
