increase font size
Rob Brazendale.
DairyNZ's Rob Brazendale says the drought situation is quite serious in some parts of the lower North Island area.
The DairyNZ head of lower North Island says farmers in Tararua and Rangitikei are the worst hit.
But Brazendale says Taranaki is dry but not too bad at this stage and south of Palmerston North in the Horowhenua there are not too many signs of a drought.
But in the worst-hit areas, Brazendale says pasture covers are much lower than normal for this time of the year, crops are finished and a lot of farmers are starting to run out of silage. He says normally they would turn to PKE as an alternative, but they are under pressure to restrict their use of this.
“A lot of farmers are already on once a day milking or have started to dry cows off. From what I have heard, the maize crop has not been good and it appears that farmers have been harvesting it early to get what they can from the crop,” he says.
There is the potential for a feed pinch in many districts, but Brazendale emphasises that it is still only early March and if the rain comes soon and soil temperatures remain warm, then the season could quickly pick up.
“So we could still get good growth through April/May and could go into winter in a good position.” he says.
In terms of morale Brazendale says farmers seen to be coping with the drought and also the corona\virus situation. But he says what continues to concern them is the threats of climate change policy, zero carbon and other environmental policies which are in the pipeline.
In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
The dairy sector is in a relatively stable position, with strong milk price payout forecasts continuing to offset ongoing high farm costs, according to DairyNZ.
DairyNZ chair Tracy Brown says history shows that when New Zealand needs an economic lift, dairy delivers.
There is nothing more important to New Zealand than agriculture, says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
With Fonterra's UHT plant at its Edendale site less than a year from completion, demand continues to grow for products the plant will produce, such as Anchor Whipping Cream.
A new $50,000 scholarship fund designed to support and empower women in the New Zealand dairy industry through leadership development has been launched.
Many farmers around the country are taking advantage of the high dairy payout to get maximum production out of their cows.
In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.
Sheep milk processor Maui Milk is on track to record average ewe production of 500 litres by 2030, says outgoing chief executive Greg Hamill.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton is calling for cross-party consensus on the country's overarching environmental goals.
The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.
OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…
