Increasing calls for support from drought-affected farmers

According to the national chair of the trust, Michelle Ruddell, they are expecting more calls for help as the drought continues.

She says all fourteen regions where the RST is based are getting calls through the 0800 number. Drought has been declared in all western areas of the North Island, including the Manawatu, but also the top of the South Island. The declarations have enabled farmers and growers to access help through the RST and other agencies.

"It's affecting farmers differently in different areas," Ruddell told Rural News.

"For example, in Northland there is a shortage of stock water, but it's been possible to truck in feed to farmers there. But in other parts of the country, feed is running out and supplements that would normally be saved for winter are now having to be fed out. We know the drought has been very bad in Taranaki and we are now hearing reports from some areas of the West Coast of the South Island which are also suffering from the dry," says Ruddell.

Help for farmers and growers is coming via a multi-agency effort including Beef+Lamb NZ, DairyNZ, FMG, HortNZ, Federated Farmers and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) as well as the RST.

Ruddell says in Taranaki there has been a good uptake by farmers of the dry workshops being arranged by DairyNZ. She says the RST and other organisations have been running special events and functions to get farmers and growers off their properties to meet others in the same situation, to share their problems and hopefully come up with solutions.

"The aim is to assure people that they are not alone, and that help is available," she says.

But Ruddell says the situation is likely to get worse as no rain is forecast for the foreseeable future.

One of the agencies involved in helping drought affected farmers is MPI's On Farm Support team led by Dr John Roche. He's been around the country for the past few weeks and has seen the situation for himself.

He says having driven through Taranaki, he's seen how bad the situation is. He says at this stage animals are being fed, but there are concerns about what might happen if the dry conditions continue.

"I think they daytime temperatures are still pretty high, but the night-time temperatures have fallen, and we are seeing cooler nights and dews in the morning. We have also got low soil moisture levels right up and down the west coast of the North Island and there are other regions that we are monitoring closely," he says.

Roche says MPI is in regular touch with local Rural Advisory Groups to make sure they don't inadvertently miss an area that is in trouble. He says in some areas pasture covers are low but there is a green tinge there implying a 'green drought'.

Rural Support Trust chair Michelle Ruddell

What Comes Next

The challenge for many farmers is what comes when the rain starts to fall and the drought starts to break, according to Ballance Agri Nutrients science strategy manager Warwick Catto.

He's been travelling around the country, noting the very dry places, and says most people can deal with a summer drought. But he warns there are challenges ahead unless there is rain soon.

"The autumn droughts are the most challenging because the growing window is shrinking, and there is less time to build covers for winter feed and autumn pasture. And there is no magic answer," he says.

The use of nitrogen fertiliser is normally seen as one of the main ways to get pastures to grow quickly, but Catto says farmers should remember fertiliser is a growth accelerator so they need to be cautious when applying it when a drought ends. He says the key thing is, when you get rain, the plants are trying to recover first and so there will be plenty of nutrients and nitrogen there to support the initial growth that will come.

"I guess one of the key messages is that you don't need to rush out and put nitrogen on the day or next day after it rains. You have several weeks before you need to put it on, so there is no urgent rush and feat that you have missed the bus by not putting N on straight away," he says.

Catto also especially warns against putting nitrogen on new pasture just after it rains saying there is a risk of nitrate poisoning which will damage the pasture. He adds that cool and cloudy days are when there is the highest risk.

The other key message from Catto is for farmers to divide their pastures into three groups. Those that will recover quickly, those they will do so but take little longer, and those that are slow and may never recover.

"The obvious thing is don't spend any money on those that won't recover from a nutrient perspective.

"Put your investment in those that will recover, because that is where you'll get your best return," he says.

The other point Catto makes is that farmers don't need to rush out and get a soil test after a drought. He says a test taken a year or two ago should be an adequate indicator of fertility. Overall, Catto says farmers should err on the side of caution and not use N until the pasture starts to pick up and can benefit from the extra fertiliser.

Water Levels Low

The Manawatu is one of the latest places to be declared a drought region.

Horizon Regional Council science and regulation manager Dr Lizzie Daly says the declaration follows months of low rainfall levels across most of the region. She says five of the seven districts have received below average or low levels of rainfall compared to what would be expected for this time of year.

"The lack of significant rainfall means waterways are at or nearing the point where water abstraction needs to be carefully managed. Low rainfall levels have a knock-on effect, causing low river flow which leads to reduced recharge of groundwater reservoirs.

"These conditions mean many of our monitoring sites have been moving and out of low flow water restrictions over the past few months," she says.

Daly says consent holders should continue to regularly check Horizons' EnvironData and WaterMatters resources to stay up to date with restrictions.