Lower NI growers face worst season on record
Concern over vegetable yields as farms remain waterlogged
Commercial growers in parts of the lower North Island are facing one of their worst seasons on record due to the rain that just keeps on falling. John Clark, owner of Woodhaven, a business just south of Levin producing 1.2 million cases of vegetables a year, says he’s never experienced conditions like this in 38 years.
It’s impossible to plant crops because the ground is too wet for tractors.
“We have had a year-and-a-half of this. It started the winter before and carried on through the summer and this winter,” Clark said. It will affect the yields of his crops enormously, he said.
“The only good thing is the prices have gone up, but on the downside labour costs have risen because of the state of crops and the time needed to harvest them in the wet conditions.”
Just north of Levin, Geoff Lewis, an asparagus grower, is facing similar problems. He’s owned his property since 1980 and has never experienced such a wet season — so long that the ground is waterlogged.
Other asparagus growers have the same problem, he said.
“Nationwide, asparagus growers are quite concerned about the harvest this year, especially the soil conditions because the ground is waterlogged,” Lewis said.
“We have water right at the surface of the ground, meaning it is totally waterlogged.
“In Waikato, Manawatu and Horo-
Nationwide, asparagus growers are quite concerned about the harvest this year, especially the soil conditions because the ground is waterlogged Geoff Lewis
whenua it has meant we are at risk of root-borne diseases. We are not sure how that is going to impact the yield at this stage.
“Most growers have looked to protect their crops by using fungicides, which they wouldn’t normally do.”
The wet, boggy conditions make it hard for staff to get trucks around the property.
“It’s a most unusual weather pattern. Interestingly the soil temperatures are not bad and the last month has been very mild for this time of the year. But the lack of sun and the continual rain are a problem.” Potato grower Terry Olsen says in some parts of Horowhenua it’s been very bad.
“Hard on people, hard on the soil and hard on the machinery — it’s just been a challenge.”
Olsen said it will be hard for him and other locals to have potatoes ready for Christmas, but other regions are not as badly affected as Horowhenua.
In Manawatu, dairy farmer and Federated Farmers board member Andrew Hoggard said the rain has affected pasture use and regrowth, but there is not much farmers can do. His calving has gone well, but this will vary from farm to farm.
He said conditions from now on will have a big impact on mating in a few months. Fine weather should improve pasture use and cow condition. The problem of the rain is backed up by Met Service statistics.
Spokeswoman Georgina Griffiths said many regions had their entire annual quota of rain in the first eight months of the year.
In Horowhenua the rainfall total for the first eight months is 873mm, well ahead of the norm of 673mm. The annual average rainfall for the region is 1082 mm.