Farmers facing stock feed delays
The problems faced by Taranaki’s drought-hit farmers are being compounded as they struggle to access vital supplementary feed for their stock.
A drought was declared around the region in December and heavy rain at the weekend was not enough to break it. Grass stocks are low after a wet winter, which damaged soil, and a dry, hot start to the summer.
Now farmers are facing delays in accessing much-needed palm kernel to feed their animals - a situation that could result in further financial pressure and further hefty drops in milk production and income.
Four companies import palm kernel through Port Taranaki and two, Glencore Grain Ltd and Agrifeeds, both lease facilities from the port to process, store and screen the animal feed.
The processing delays, mainly at the Glencore facility, are also taking a financial toll on trucking companies, with drivers spending valuable working hours queuing to get a load.
Janet Schultz, Taranaki Federated Farmers dairy chairwoman, said the delays, which began before Christmas, were adding to farmers’ stress.
‘‘They can’t screen it fast enough because of the amount of tonnage that needs to go out because of the shortage in grass,’’ Schultz said.
‘‘They are trying to feed their cows. They can’t get enough palm kernel to feed so therefore they are not going to be able to produce milk, therefore their cashflow is strapped and on it goes.’’
Schultz said she expected the increased demand would go on for months.
Schultz said some farmers had already dried off their herds, well ahead of the traditional period at the end of May, because of a lack of feed available which would ‘‘hugely’’ affect their income.
‘‘Banks are going to have to support a lot of farmers through this.’’
Barry Bishop, owner of Inglewood’s BJ Bishop Transport, said drivers had been queuing for four to five hours to get a load.
‘‘By 4am the queues have already started and some drivers are even sleeping in their trucks,’’ Bishop said.
‘‘The queues have been there all day long and then they turn people away at 6pm.’’
Bishop said the delays were also affecting haulage companies’ incomes as drivers were often able to get only one or two loads a day where they could be transporting five to six loads.
Simon Knowles, Glencore Agriculture NZ Operations, acknowledged there had been long queues during recent weeks.
‘‘With the ongoing dry conditions in the Taranaki region we saw a sharp increase in demand for feed from our New Plymouth stores, and as a result the stores have been extremely busy over the holiday period,’’ Knowles said.
‘‘This was compounded by the short weeks, unloading of inbound vessels and other importers running low on product prior to Christmas.’’
He said the facility’s screener was running at full capacity, 20 hours a day, and expected the situation to improve.
‘‘With full weeks ahead and recent rain as at Monday the queues had shortened and turnaround times improved.’’
Agrifeeds general manager Braden Waite said the company’s facility wasn’t experiencing the same bottleneck because it had a 50 per cent larger screening capacity and its product had already been screened before arriving.
He said there had been an increased demand for palm kernel due to the extreme situation farmers were experiencing.