Maori-owned orchards bounce back from cyclone damage
A large Māori-owned kiwifruit business that was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle has bounced back with a vengeance.
He says there hasn't been a lot of assistance from central government and the district has failed to get some of the funding it hoped it would get.
He says there have been some small grants and Federated Farmers have helped by giving farmers fence posts, but adds that more help is needed to restore positivity.
"The farmers in remote areas are really struggling because the only access they have to their farms amounts to nothing more than a goat track," he says.
The other problem remains the road between Wairoa and Napier which is still being repaired and nine sets of traffic lights control the one-way sections of the road.
Little says this is having an adverse effect on farmers trying to get stock down to Hawke's Bay.
"Normally the local trucking firm could make two full trips a day. Now they are losing half a day with the roadworks and the cost of this will hit farmers," he says.
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A sheep farmer himself, Litte claims to have had a "lucky break". This turns out to be the fact that he's broken his leg in a fall and is being forced to work from home and rest up a bit.
He says he's sold his breeding cows and is now trading stock and moved to self-shedding sheep to make life a bit easier for himelf and his wife.
But like all sheep and beef farmers, the situation is challenging for Little and his fellow farmers.
