Farmers lose income from drought
Some dairy farmers stand to lose a third of their annual income because they have already stopped milking.
Taranaki, Manawatu/ Horowhenua/Rangitikei and Wellington districts are the hardest hit and were declared in drought at Christmas, but Northland and Auckland are suffering from the big dry as well. The West Coast is the latest to be declared a drought area.
Farmers from lower North Island west coast regions with long memories said the last time they had to move dry stock off their farms to find pasture was about 40 years ago. ‘‘They’re not earning income which is the trouble,’’ Rural Support Trust chairman for Manawatu, Horowhenua and Rangitikei, Chris Hall said. ‘‘The cash flows of the farmers really suffering have become very tight, and there are one or two who have even dried off which means two or three months income that they’re not going to receive.’’ For most farmers, unless they are winter milking, the season runs from September to May.
Fonterra has advised farmers would produce 4 per cent less milk this season than last because of the dry conditions. Rain over the past few days would provide welcome relief, but may be too late for some farmers. Taranaki Trust chairman Mike Green said ‘‘two or three’’ farmers in his district had dried their cows off.
‘‘The important thing is for farmers to take decisions early, which these people have, and prepare their cows for next season. It’s better to do that than overcook it this year and then have two poor seasons,’’ Green said.
Hall said farmers faced many problems, from lack of feed, milk being spoiled by high somatic cell counts and pressure from banks.
‘‘A big problem is some farmers have used all their supplementary feed and that’s used normally in the winter. Because most has been fed now, we’ll have to try and source feed elsewhere.’’
Some farmers had switched to once-a-day-milking but this had caused a spike in somatic cell counts in the milk, so it was no longer fit for human consumption. Farmers from east coast regions, where rain has been more plentiful, had offered to take dry stock, but some west coast farmers were reluctant to send them to areas where they might be infected with the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.
The disease was detected in the North Island, in Hastings, for the first time last month.
Rural Support Trust coordinator for Northland and Auckland, Julie Jonker, said farmers were demoralised.