Farmers plea for more rain
Farmers are hoping forecast rain for the Central North Island comes to fruition this week. They are hanging out for real showers after the region has been more than a month without rain and the ground had gone from wet, to ‘‘concrete’’ in some areas.
Manawatu¯ dairy farmer Robert Ervine said pasture covers were dropping and farmers needed rain for more grass to grow and for crops which had just poked above ground.
‘‘Contractors tell me they are doing very little silage on dairy farms and it’s mainly runoff blocks and dry stock blocks and that the cuts are lighter than normal,’’ he said.
‘‘I have heard ploughing has got difficult as the ground was so hard. Extremes are always hard to deal with . When just over a month ago we where hanging out for two dry days in a row. Be careful what you wish for.’’
Bulls arable farmer Hew Dalrymple said lumps had appeared in the ground because it had been wet and then dry and getting soil ready for crops had been more expensive than usual.
He said the sand country was dry, and while some places were lucky to get rain through cloudbursts, most of Manawatu¯ , Rangitı¯kei and Horowhenua had been without rain for a long time.
‘‘Crops which went in when we could get machinery on soil about a month ago - we got some maize in then and some barley - that looks alright. But it all needs some rain now.’’
Dalrymple said farmers did not want barley to grow too fast, as yields would be down.
‘‘I don’t want to say it’s perfect for barley, but these conditions are okay for it.’’
He said the pendulum had swung from extreme wet to extreme dry and that had made it extremely difficult for all farmers.
‘‘A few weeks ago we were desperate for some dry weather now we have it. This season has just been a little bit of a challenge for us, but you have to live with the weather.’’
He said there was rain forecast for inner North Island this week, but no meaningful rain was likely for southern North Island until next month.
‘‘December is our second wettest month usually. Everyone will hope the weather sticks to the rules.’’
Dairynz consulting officer Scott Cameron said coastal sand properties were drying out fast and were going brown on top.
‘‘Where people have irrigators they are going and have been for a few weeks,’’ he said.
He said pasture had been going to seed for about a month.
‘‘Since a lot of farms are in a deficit on the feed front, cows are eating the pasture low - so therefore not too much topping has been required.’’
Federated Farmers vice president Andrew Hoggard said his farm was okay at the moment.
‘‘We farm in a bit of a microclimate,’’ said Hoggard, a dairy farmer in northern Manawatu¯ at Kiwitea. ‘‘The cows and pasture look good here.the worry is if these dry conditions carry on.’’
He had made silage on his dairy platform as he had spare pasture, but most dairy farmers were not in the same position.
‘‘The grass here is trying to go to seed. We have been topping pastures to get rid of seed heads and stalks. We have finished now and are growing good pasture.’’
Hoggard said while cows were in good condition and milking well at the moment, he and other farmers would like some rain.
‘‘We don’t want rain at Christmas. That’s a bit late in December. I hope we get some real rain before that.’’