More regions to face drought declarations
Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson says the present weather conditions remain challenging for farmers.
The MetService is forecasting more heavy rain for an already sodden Nelson/Tasman region from late Friday.
It has been just under two weeks since the region was hit with flooding, which forced some farmers to dump milk. The New Zealand Transport Agency has only managed to open the area of State Highway 6 between Rai Valley and Blenheim this morning, with other sections of the highway set to open tomorrow morning, weather permitting.
MetService meteorologist Stephen Glassey says Westland could see over 300mm of rain and 50 to 70mm could hit the ranges near Nelson and northern Marlborough.
“This amount of rain wouldn’t normally cause too many problems in Nelson and Marlborough but because they have already had extreme amounts of rain recently it could lead to more slips,” Glassey says.
Nelson and Blenheim have already beaten their wettest winters on record by considerable margins, receiving close to three times their averages for winter.
Nelson Airport has recorded over 700mm rain since the beginning of June, beating their previous record of 570mm in 1970. Meanwhile, Woodbourne Airport in Blenheim has had approximately 560mm this winter, beating their previous record of 377mm in 2010.
Orange Heavy Rain Warnings and Watches are likely to be issued for the West Coast, Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough regions in the coming days.
Newly elected Federated Farmers meat and wool group chair Richard Dawkins says he will continue the great work done his predecessor Toby Williams.
Hosted by ginger dynamo Te Radar, the Fieldays Innovation Award Winners Event put the spotlight on the agricultural industry's most promising ideas.
According to DairyNZ's latest Econ Tracker update, there has been a rise in the forecast breakeven milk price for the 2025/26 season.
Despite the rain and a liberal coating of mud, engines roared, and the 50th Fieldays Tractor Pull Competition drew crowds of spectators across the four days of the annual event.
Nationwide rural wellbeing programme, Farmstrong recently celebrated its tenth birthday at Fieldays with an event attended by ambassador Sam Whitelock, Farmers Mutual Group (FMG), Farmstrong partners, and government Ministers.
Six industry organisations, including DairyNZ and the Dairy Companies Association (DCANZ) have signed an agreement with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to prepare the country for a potential foot and mouth outbreak.
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