Drought declared in Tasman
The Government is putting measures in place to help farmers in Tasman District who are struggling due to the dry weather.
Tasman was last Thursday officially declared to be in drought, along with the entire North Island and other regions at the top of the South Island.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said the Government was providing $2 million nationwide to support those affected. Relief would be targeted region by region, with the Government working with Rural Support Trusts and other groups to focus on what help farmers needed.
He said the funding would help farmers in Tasman coordinate what their regional needs were, provide access to feed supplies if needed, and pay for professional advice for those who needed longer-term planning.
‘‘The effect from (drought) last year is still being felt – it’s a compounding effect.’’ O’Connor said. ‘‘With the declaration of drought this year, it might take some farmers 18 months or more to recover.
‘‘A drought . . . is felt not just by farmers, but by the service sector and all people who rely on farmers for any part of their income.’’
Nelson Federated Farmers spokesman Martin O’Connor said areas including Korere, Tapawera, Dovedale and the Motueka Valley had been most affected by the dry weather.
O’Connor said that while Tasman was still reasonably placed, some individual farmers were struggling.
Getting enough winter feed was the biggest issue for many, he said. While farmers had enjoyed a good spring and produced plenty of supplement, the dry weather had caused some to start burning through their winter feed.
Niwa meteorologist Chris Brandolino said it was a dry February across the whole upper South Island.
In both 2018 and and 2019, both Nelson and Tasman reached severe drought levels, according to Niwa’s New Zealand Drought Index. So far in 2020, Tasman District South had just crossed the meteorological drought threshold, while Tasman District North and Nelson were still considered ‘‘extremely dry’’.
Brandolino said there could be rain on the horizon, but not just yet. While the upper South Island was expected to be drier than normal for the next two weeks, Niwa’s forecast for the autumn season predicted an equal chance for rainfall to be near normal or above normal.
Dovedale sheep and beef farmer David Martin said that while conditions had been dry, it was not as bad as the year before. He had a lot more feed this year, while in 2019 a lot of grass had burnt off quickly due to the heat.
‘‘A lot of it depends on how much stock you’ve got on.’’
Wakefield farmer Colin Gibbs said that while some paddocks had dried out substantially, he thought the area had generally been coping.
For most farmers, at this stage it would be a matter of management to make sure stock were watered and fed, he said.
‘‘I guess we live in expectation that the autumn rains will come and give us feed before winter.’’
Golden Bay dairy farmer and Federated Farmers spokesman Wayne Langford said the Bay was almost back to the status quo.
‘‘There’s not a lot of water in the reserves, but we got some significant rain in February, and that’s greened up a lot of Golden Bay and the Takaka valleys.
‘‘Farmers are starting to have enough feed again, and are beginning to ease up on supplements.’’
Langford said that while there hadn’t been a lot of rain so far in March, there had been enough to keep farms on track to recover from the dry conditions.