Farmers in dire straits as region dries up

"I think it's going to take substantial rain to turn anything around." Marc Gopperth

While townies are hitting the beaches and having a great time in the hot weather, farmers are finding the summer looking increasingly bleak.

Taranaki has not had decent rain for the best part of six weeks, and according to the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)’s drought index, about half of Taranaki is currently classed as ‘extremely dry’.

The Metservice forecast for Taranaki predicts a few showers until Monday but then it will be mainly fine, with the chance of a shower on Christmas Eve.

It’s adding up to a trying time for farmers, dairy farmer Janet Schultz, who is also the dairy chairperson for Federated Farmers Taranaki, said.

She said they had received enough rain in Inglewood to keep them ticking over, but many other farmers were really struggling, particularly down the coast.

‘‘They’re looking at drying off or going to once a day,’’ she said. There’s not a lot of supplements out there for winter. That means that what hay or supplements are out there are going to be worth a fortune to be able to buy.’’

Farmers were already under a great deal of financial and mental pressure after the wet spring, she said. At the recent Stratford Cattle Fair, 1100 cattle went through and ‘‘the prices just crashed’’ for both dairy farmers and dry stock.

‘‘Some of their water is already running out so they have to offload. They’ve had to offload to be able to keep the minimal stock that they have got.’’

And other farmers don’t want to buy the stock because of the uncertainty, Schultz said.

‘‘They don’t know what the future holds for them.’’

Those who had planted crops such as turnips late may also be struggling because there hadn’t been enough water to allow the seeds to germinate, she said.

‘‘They have to plan. They have to get consultation from Dairy NZ and the Rural Support Trust.

‘‘The effect in the moisture levels in the ground is quite huge so we need a good deluge and a follow up as well. Ten or 20 millimetres isn’t going to be enough.’’

She said it was important to be mindful and to look out for neighbours. ‘‘Make sure they’re okay. At the end of the day we’ve really had three years of problems - if it’s not hay or it’s been rain last year and now drought. It doesn’t cost anything to have a barbecue or a potluck with your neighbours.’’

Farming contractors are also feeling the heat, with supplement production going down because of little surplus grass.

Marc Gopperth, from Gopperth Contracting, said they had only made a third of the silage bales they would usually make and under half the bulk silage.

‘‘The dry weather hasn’t grown grass and hasn’t provided surpluses to farmers to produce supplements,’’ he said.

‘‘They need to be smart and probably rely on good farm advisors or good knowledge.’’

Sourcing feed was difficult even outside the region, he said.

‘‘We normally send feed out to Whanganui and we had a company ring us the other day to see if we can send feed down there. I think it’s going to take substantial rain to turn anything around.’’