Displaying items by tag: Drought

Hamish Craw's farm on the rugged north-east slopes of Banks Peninsula normally carries 3,500 stock units, but it is now down to fewer than 2,000 as the district’s worst drought in decades continues to bite.

As the autumn dry begins to really bite along most of the South Island’s east coast, farmers are being urged to act now to mitigate the impacts heading into winter.

Seddon farmer and Marlborough drought committee member Warwick Lissaman says total destocking and going fishing may seem like the best option for some of Marlborough’s drought-hit farmers.

“It's just a bitch.” That’s how one farmer in Hawke’s Bay summed up the drought that is affecting much of the region.

Dairy farmers in the Hawke's Bay are once again being hit by drought with Matt Wade of Federated Farmers saying it's worse than last year.

The number of sheep fell by 3% in the year ended June 2020, Statistics NZ says.

Farmers in regions facing dry or extremely dry conditions are being urged to tap into the resources available to them through their industry good organisations and MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries).

The Government will boost its drought support to new parts of the country and continue helping farmers in areas facing long-term dry conditions, says Agriculture and Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor.

Banks Peninsula's big dry is not yet an official drought, but it has "so far" cost sheep and beef farmer Mark Hutchinson somewhere in six figures.

Many parts of the east coast of the North Island - especially from Wairoa down to Central Hawke's Bay - are in a crisis state with a severe autumn drought. Peter Burke drove through the area last week and reports that streams and springs are drying up and sheep in some places are struggling to find anything green.