Cyclone-ravaged orchardists facing balance sheet woes
Many companies are financially mortally wounded by the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle and may have to sell up because of their high debt levels.
That's how the North Island's East Coast is being described, with farmers - once again - having to deal with yet another rain event hitting the region. It's back to square one for many farmers, who watched helplessly as the torrential rain knocked out fences and farm tracks that have just been repaired following Cylone Gabrielle.
Federated Farmers meat and wool chair and Gisborne sheep farmer Toby Williams told Rural News that they have endured five years of severe rain storms. He says that over the last 18 months in particular, the weather has been unrelenting.
"The region is sodden, the hills are moving, the farm tracks are cut and the roads are munted. It's demoralising to be a farmer here and it's equally demoralising to be an East Coaster."
Williams says there's a mix of small and large slips and reckons it may take up to 15 years to repair some of the larger ones. He says the ground is so saturated that they are seeing some slow-moving slips, which keep on going and continually cut farm tracks.
Williams and other farmers are having a great deal of difficulty getting around their properties to muster stock beause of slips and damaged tracks.
This latest event has played havoc with what is a major event on the East Coast - the annual bull sales. These have been postponed for a week, but there is still no guarantee that they will go ahead within that timeframe, given the state of roads in the region.
Williams, whose brother is a bull breeder, had to cancel a trip to the USA because of the postponement. He says the roads in the region are in a fragile state, but are so important for livestock farmers and horticulturalists to get their produce to market.
"The roading crews are doing an amazing job - they and the linesman are the unsung heroes."
Williams says there have been power outages but generators have been brought in to keep thing going until power is restored. He says there have been some communication problems, but notes that there are a lot more Starlinks in the region now, which has alleviated these issues.
Williams says Federated Farmers has been pressuring the Government to step in and ease the consenting process so that roads can be repaired faster. He says, while they may be listening, they appear more focused on passing some of their key pieces of legislation.
"There are only five sitting weeks left in Parliament and the reality is that once they move into election mode, nothing much gets done and we get forgotten about," he says.
