South told to brace for more drought
Farmers have been warned to prepare for another drought in parts of the South Island this year, Niwa says.
Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said Southland and the West Coast already had severe soil moisture deficits and were being monitored for risk of going into a meteorological drought.
Late last year Noll said farmers needed to prepare for more weather extremes when the third La Nina in a row hits the country this year.
La Nina brought rainy conditions to the northeast of the North Island, and less rainfall to the lower and western South Island, according to Niwa.
Southland dairy farmer Nigel Johnston said his farm had good rain last year, but indications were a long dry spell was approaching.
A farmer could fill a gap in their feed supply from drought with supplement feed, such as baleage, but it would cost them and mean a loss of profits, Johnston said.
Decisions on how grass was managed throughout the year played a big role in how well a farm coped if there was a drought.
Johnston said getting cows to eat longer store grass meant he saved money because he did not have to pay a contractor to bale. But if the quality of grass was poor, cows would produce less milk and he would again lose money.
Chief Economist at Beef and Lamb, Andrew Burtt, said droughts occurred in autumn, which was when tupping (mating) happens on farms.
Drought conditions and the possibility of less feed available could affect ewes’ body condition, which affected their ability to have lambs, Burtt said. This meant the following season would have a smaller lamb crop, he said.
Beef and Lamb figures for South Island finishing farms showed ewes had fewer lambs after the 2021 and 2022 droughts, Burtt said. An unseasonable cold snap last year at the peak of lambing in Southland also played a part in reduced lambs, he said.
Pasture growth during spring 2021 and 2022 was good and farmers could prepare for autumn drought by baling grass, but a prolonged dry spell affected regrowth during the following summer and autumn, and feed supply was affected the following year, Burtt said.
Farmers who sold stock early, so they had fewer mouths to feed, benefited in 2021 and 2022 because stock prices were good, he said.
Other farmers sent stock away to graze, or bought in supplement feed like conserved pasture, grain or nuts, but this meant they spent money, he said.
Having fewer lambs to sell and spending more on feed were reasons farmers lost money after a drought, Burtt said.
Director of rural communities and farming support at the Ministry for Primary Industries, Nick Story, said over the past five years, MPI provided $7.54 million in relief across eight droughts.
This included the long drought that affected most of New Zealand in 2020, he said.
Most of the funding was for recovery support services, including feed co-ordination, psychosocial support, community events and technology transfers, Story said.
MPI had $320,000 allocated each year for adverse events, he said.
When this funding was exceeded, MPI could re-prioritise funding internally or seek additional funding from the Government, Story said.
Between March 2020 and October last year the Government provided $8m in drought and other weather events.