Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
In the Far North cows are being artificially inseminated. There's been lovely mild spring weather and grass is growing well. Some farmers are still feeding out supplements to ensure their cows are in peak condition for mating. News that Fonterra will pay dairy farmers a record 9-dollars-30 a kilogram of milk solids for the last season has them smiling but our contact says it won't mean they splash out on new equpment or machinery ... they're all too conscious of higher labour and fuel costs. Ninety two hectares of farmland near Kaitaia has been bought to convert into a solar panel farm but building hasn't yet started.
Small areas of new potatoes are being harvested around Pukekohe which has had changeable weather this week. Due to the mild winter, iceberg lettuce heads are soft and onion growers are digesting news they will permanently lose access to a regularly used herbicide.
Prices are high for early blueberries grown in plastic tunnels near Hamilton. Meanwhile blueberries in paddocks are coming into flower and will start to be harvested in a month or so. There's been mild weather and plenty of sun to help them along. The annual blueberry conference was held at Mystery Creek last week and attendance was high as there's a steady expansion in the industry. Many growers are trying to organise harvesting crews in advance, fearing travellers will be lured to Australia to pick fruit rather than New Zealand.
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Many King Country farms are docking and beef farmers are calving in unpredictable weather, fine days followed by torrential rain. Some rivers and creeks are still pretty high, making lower paddocks a bit muddy, but those with more pumice-based land are doing fine. There haven't been hard frosts as is usual this time of the year so grass growth is good, but they could do with more sun.
Taranaki dairy farmers are said to be at a crunch point. They, too, need more sun to speed up pasture growth. Heavy rain is falling on a regular basis. Some are coming to the end of their supplement supplies and cow weights are lower than they would like. Some have started their breeding programme already and others will start mating next month. One farmer says New Zealand has managed to successfully control the spread of M Bovis well and credits MPI, but acknowledges it can't be easy having to cull stock in an infected herd in Ashburton.
In the Bay of Plenty it's still wet and boggy around kiwifruit vines. Bud burst is a bit slower than usual which is a relief for orchardists still trying to finish pruning. It's looking fabulous on the earlier Gold variety, so growers are anticipating a good season. Avocados are being picked and those which survived bad weather are selling well in New Zealand markets. The prices being paid in Australia and Asian countries are rather soft as there's plenty of competition at this time of the year.
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Around Feilding in Manawatu, locals are getting sick of having to wear their wet weather gear just about every day. There's been so much pasture damage from ongoing rain that more fodder and wheat crops will be put in instead of trying to revive what's left of the grass. But the wet is delaying planting, adding to the frustration. On a positive note there haven't been any major storms and the temperature is reasonably mild so lambing has had high survival rates. Paddocks are so muddy that stock agents haven't been able to get to some pastures or inspect stock.
In the Horowhenua region market gardeners have been planting crops this week while the sun is shining. Farmers are still feeding out on dairy farms but with the mild weather and sprouting clover that shouldn't need to continue every day for too much longer.
Across in Hawkes Bay the ongoing rain and puggy conditions are making it difficult for those rearing calves. Many are being kept in the sheds to protect pastures when usually at this time of the year they'd be galloping around paddocks. One farmer says it's just about as challenging as a drought trying to juggle stock, mud and ongoing rain.
Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
Down the coast in Wairarapa winter sports are finishing so locals in Wainuioru held a quiz night in the local hall to get everyone together for a catch up. Dotted in between days of rain the sun is shining but not quite keeping up with the amount of rain to sufficiently dry paddocks. Hoggets are lambing and older ewes have finished so docking is underway. The condition of lambs this season is described as excellent. Fences are being maintained and helicopters have been used to get fertiliser on hill country.
Weather at the top of the South Island is described as up and down as orchardists try to keep up with pruning amid bad weather and staff shortages. Adding to delays is the public holiday on Monday in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth. Apple and kiwifruit are bursting into bud even though some haven't even been pruned.
Some orchardists around Motueka were in frost fighting mode earlier in the week. Tests on Gold and Green kiwifruit buds showed their flower potential looks good. Hop stringing is about to start, fingers crossed for sunny dry weather so the machinery can move among the vines without getting stuck. Bees are expected to be busy in fruit orchards next week as more buds burst into flower, particularly on apple trees.
Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Tractors are running around the clock in Canterbury as they race to get paddocks prepared and sown into spring crops. A bit of sun on the plains is a relief after so much rain. Near Rolleston a farm's underpass for cows is still unuseable, the water table is so high it's like a creek.
Paddocks continue to be so wet helicopters are being used here too to apply fertiliser. Cows are being trained to know when to go to the milking shed thanks to a vibrating collar which saves dairy workers the job of rounding them up. A dairy farmer says it's heart breaking that cattle are having to be culled due to M Bovis as in some cases stock are just about family members. Winter lambs are moving off farm to processors.
In Cromwell, nectarine and peach trees are blossoming fabulously and the apples will start flowering next week. There have been a few minor frosts and the days have been warm with temperatures between 15 to 17 degrees. The soil has dried out nicely and orchards are not getting their vehicles and machinery stuck between the trees.
In Southland, ewe scanning percentages are down about 10 percent and that's being attributed to this year's drought. Farmers are about two thirds through lambing - our contact reports a few sets of triplets and even a few quadruplets being born. Our contact says he's feeling relaxed and fit as he has been doing about 18 thousand steps a day as he does his lambing beat, that's about 14 kilometres. Even though it's the busy time of the year farmers are being encouraged to take the time to vote in the local body elections.
Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
