Monday, 11 January 2016 11:21

El Nino brings mixed bag

Written by 
Farmers in drought-affected parts of New Zealand will continue to feel the impacts of El Niño for months. Farmers in drought-affected parts of New Zealand will continue to feel the impacts of El Niño for months.

Despite recent rain, farmers in drought-affected parts of New Zealand will continue to feel the impacts of El Niño for months, as NIWA's latest seasonal outlook indicates.

January and February are usually drier months in Canterbury.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is monitoring the weather situation closely and keeping Ministers updated. MPI is working through Rural Support Trusts and industry groups to help understand the impacts and ensure that support mechanisms are in place.

"In many of the drought-hit areas, particularly Canterbury and Marlborough, the rain was a great morale booster," says MPI's director of resource policy David Wansbrough.

"Crop farmers have had a better start to the year, as any good rainfall like this really helps new crop growth. But where pasture has died from over a year of dry weather, more rain will be needed to break the drought and it will be months before production recovers.

"Much of Otago was less lucky and didn't receive the rainfall of their northerly neighbours. In the Strath Taieri, some locals are saying it's the driest they have ever seen it."

Rural Support Trusts are saying that the financial and emotional impacts of the ongoing drought are really starting to pinch for some farmers. Farmers and their families can contact their local Rural Support Trusts on 0800 787 254 for advice and information. Federated Farmers feedline on 0800 376 844 can help get feed to drought-hit farms.

"Farmers are doing a good job of working through their drought management plans. For many, destocking in November and early December means that remaining animals can be kept in good condition even under this pressure," says Wansbrough.

"Driving around the lower and eastern North Island you can see plenty of bales of hay in the paddocks, which shows farmers there have geared up well for a dry summer."

An increasingly dry Northland did well out of recent deluges but has since been hammered by strong easterly winds, which hastens the soil drying out and can damage some crops. Under El Niño, elevated activity in the tropics also means a higher chance that cyclones or ex-cyclones could drop closer to NZ, bringing storms and heavy rain to the top and east of the north island.

MPI continues to monitor soil moisture deficits in the North Island, and is also mindful that many farmers are still recovering from the June storms in Taranaki and Whanganui.

More like this

Help available for flood-hit farmers

The chair of the Otago Rural Support Trust, Tom Pinckney, says he believes that they will be especially busy in the coming months as the enormity of the floods hit home.

Getting Onside

Time matters in a biosecurity response, says Ryan Higgs, Chief Executive of biosecurity technology company Onside.

Featured

State farmer opens pathway to ownership for more Kiwis

In a landmark move, the state-owned farmer Pāmu (Landcorp) is making four of its 44 dairy farms available for people wishing to take up various contracts including herd-owning, share milking, variable order share milking and contract milking.

Coming to a beach near you!

The popular Surfing for Farmers programme, which gives farmers a well-earned break from life on the farm, starts its eighth season from November 5.

MilkHub sold

Milk vat manufacturer DTS is selling its dairy automation business to MilktechNZ.

National

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer…

Former Fonterra CEO dies

Former Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings passed away in the Netherlands over the weekend.

Graduate brings passion for farming

Rhys Dawson will join Perrin Ag in 2025 as the firm’s newest graduate recruit, bringing a passion for inter-generational agribusiness…

Machinery & Products

Data connection made easier

New Holland and Case IH are introducing new advancements in their precision technology stack to make farming easier and more…

A formidable duo for tillage

The new Lemken Solitair MR series mounted drills, available in three or four metre working widths, features a 1500-litre tank, which…

When compaction is a good thing

Good silage starts by cutting the crop at the correct growth stage, followed by reducing moisture content, chopping to a consistent…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Feed from farmers

OPINION: The country's dairy farmers will now also have a hand in providing free lunch for schools.

Brighter future

OPINION: The abrupt departure of Synlait chief executive Grant Watson could be a sign that Chinese company Bright Dairy, the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter