Summer shocker for farmers
The drought affecting Taranaki this summer is the most severe since 2011 but the region’s farmers are casting their minds much further back to recall such tough conditions.
The Niwa drought monitor index shows conditions hit severe drought across Taranaki this summer, the first time since 2014, and peaked at similar levels to those seen in 2011.
Niwa principal scientist Chris Brandolino said anything above 1.5 on the index was classified as drought and above 1.75 was a severe drought.
In New Plymouth and South Taranaki, the index nudged 2.25 this summer, with conditions in Stratford registering just above 2.
However, Taranaki farmers say although drought conditions are seen every few years, the difficult conditions leading into summer were compounded by the sudden change in the weather.
Warren Green farms near Oakura and said this summer had been ‘‘a shocker’’.
‘‘We’ve had big dries before but we’ve seen it coming so we’ve had hay, silage, maybe a crop of turnips,’’ he said.
‘‘This just went from one extreme to the next with all the rain in winter and spring and then overnight it went to nothing.’’
Green’s herd of 450 cows had gone to once-a-day milking on Boxing Day, a first during his time on the 206-hectare Koru Rd farm.
‘‘We never go once-a-day. We usually try to go right through to May 1 and last year we went to about May 10,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve culled 40 of our older cows, too. We just didn’t have the feed for them.’’
Although he hadn’t brought in feed, what had been produced onfarm was being carefully managed, Green said.
‘‘We still made a lot of silage but nowhere near as much as usual and we’ve fed out a lot of that.
‘‘We’ve got a crop of brassicas in and we’re about a third of the way through that. Hopefully that will last another month,’’ he said.
Recent rain had helped and while production was down about 15 per cent on last season, Green was hopeful the worst was over.
‘‘As soon as the rain came we shut some paddocks,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve come back a bit now but I’ve never seen a season like this and I wouldn’t want to see another one.’’
Taranaki Federated Farmers president Donald McIntyre said this year’s conditions were reminiscent of the 1970s, when the region experienced several dry periods.
‘‘I remember Dad really battling in 1972 but things were different then,’’ he said.
‘‘They didn’t have widespread use of urea or silage bales like we have now and couldn’t get animals away to the works because they were always on strike.’’
However, those dry periods had not followed the kind of winter and spring experienced in Taranaki last year.
‘‘The thing about this drought is the nature in the way it presented itself,’’ he said.
‘‘There was so much rain before and that had led to pasture damage and people having no supplement to begin with.
‘‘It’s difficult to compare one drought with another because of different weather conditions and different farming practices but when it’s tough, it’s tough.’’
Brandolino said temperatures in Taranaki were likely to remain higher than usual through February, with more unsettled weather on the way.
‘‘For the next three months as a whole, we’re expecting temperatures to be higher than usual,’’ he said.
‘‘In Taranaki, rainfall is likely to be above average but there’s no way of knowing how that will be distributed, whether it will be one significant event or lighter, more regular rainfall.’’
The Government announced $160,000 in financial support for farmers when the drought was declared. Those needing help were advised to contact their Rural Support Trust.