Tuesday, 15 April 2025 09:55

Rain misses Taranaki region

Written by  Staff Reporters
While it was reported that over 400mm of rain fell in Taranaki, most of that war in the areas surrounding and inland from Mt Taranaki. While it was reported that over 400mm of rain fell in Taranaki, most of that war in the areas surrounding and inland from Mt Taranaki.

The 'atmospheric river' of rain that swept down the country last week almost completely avoided one of the worst drought-affected regions in the country – coastal Taranaki.

Federated Farmers dairy chair for Taranaki, Sam Ebbett, told Dairy News that while it was reported that over 400mm of rain fell in the province, most came down in areas around and inland from Mt Taranaki. He farms around the township of Inglewood and got about 150mm of rain.

But further south in the areas that needed the rain most – places such as Hawera, Manaia and Pihama – got a paltry 20mm or 30mm of rain.

This was barely enough to wet the ground and start things growing, but it’s by no means a season saver,” he says.

The reason for coastal Taranaki missing out on the downpours that came in other regions is because of the role that Mt Taranaki plays in the climate. Ebbett says with the big weather system coming from the north, the mountain deflects the rain away from the coastal areas and into areas further inland. He says the prediction in the coming weeks is for a more westerly flow and this may bring rain to the coastal areas where the rain is needed most.

“Those farmers need about 40 or 50mm of rain for each of the next three weeks to get back on their feet,” he says.

Ebbett says he’s only farmed in the province for about 10 years but says the old-timers who have been around forever say this is the worst drought in 80 years.

He says many farmers have used up a lot of the supplements that were destined to get through winter; now more feed is being trucked into the region. Ebbett says even those farmers like himself who haven’t been affected by the drought are tight on feed. He says many farmers are drying their herds off early to protect the next season.

“A big focus for us at Feds is looking after contract milkers whose herds have had to be dried off. They are facing the prospect of having no income until August and that is very stressful and worrying for them,” he says.

More like this

Building trust

OPINION: The war of words between Southland farmers and Environment Southland over winter grazing inspections reflects a deep lack of trust among farmers for the regional council.

Dr Mike Joy says sorry, escapes censure

Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.

Farmer anger over Joy's social media post

A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.

Featured

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Building trust

OPINION: The war of words between Southland farmers and Environment Southland over winter grazing inspections reflects a deep lack of trust…

No Joy

OPINION: Milking It understands a formal disciplinary process is being conducted by Victoria University of Wellington on what one of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter