Wednesday, 20 March 2019 08:13

Drought declared in Mainland

Written by 
Golden Bay Fed Farmers president Wayne Langford. Golden Bay Fed Farmers president Wayne Langford.

The drought formally declared in the northern regions of the South Island is now extended into Marlborough, Buller and Nelson.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced the extension of the ‘medium-scale event’, during a visit to Tasman last week, where he opened Golden Bay Fruit’s new packhouse in Motueka and met with drought-hit farmers in Takaka.

“The lack of substantial rain means the drought situation in Tasman’s neighbouring regions has reached the point beyond the rural community’s ability to continue farming or growing through it,” O’Connor says.

Ironically, he announced this as parts of the region received useful rain, enabling Tasman District Council to ease some water-use restrictions.

Golden Bay Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford, who farms at Takaka, says rain on the day of O’Connor’s visit followed a fall four days earlier. “So last night’s rain was follow-up rain, which is really important.”

There was also more water in the Takaka River. “That’s the first time the rain’s hit the river.”

The district had greened up and Langford hopes farmers are now managing their way out of the drought. 

The Tasman District Council had been planning to increase irrigation restrictions to 50%, but is now able to keep them at 25%. Enough rain has fallen for most farmers to be able to turn irrigators off, Langford told Rural News.

However, he adds that farmers still need support. All the dry feed cows had been living on had got wet and was rotting, but the fresh green shoots were not yet enough to graze. 

“So there’s this awkward little stage now for two weeks where farmers need to manage their cows and whatnot carefully to get them through.”

O’Connor says farmers and growers in parts of New Zealand are no strangers to hot dry summers, but the extreme and prolonged nature of the dry spell had taken its toll.

“Most notably, the water shortages and tough restrictions have meant that farmers have needed to take serious destocking measures, and horticulturists are having to choose which crops to let die off and which to water.

“We’re listening and we know this is a challenging time so we [will do] all we can to help those affected. However, it would be great to get some substantial rain in these areas.”

More like this

Featured

Horticulture exports hit $8.4B, surge toward $10B by 2029

A brilliant result and great news for growers and regional economies. That's how horticulture sector leaders are describing the news that sector exports for the year ended June 30 will reach $8.4 billion - an increase of 19% on last year and is forecast to hit close to $10 billion in 2029.

National

Machinery & Products

Calf feeding boost

Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this…

JD's precision essentials

Farmers across New Zealand are renowned for their productivity and efficiency, always wanting to do more with less, while getting…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Be afraid

OPINION: Your old mate hears some of the recent uptick in farmer confidence has slipped since the political polls started…

Trust us!

OPINION: Ther'es a reason politicians rank even lower than John Campbell in the most trusted profession surveys.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter