Farmers want water, foresters seek workers
Turnips the size of radishes and wilting maize have got Waikato farmers concerned about the dry conditions and the forestry sector says a shortage of workers has put them at greater danger of suffering from the heat too.
Waikato Regional Council said that a meeting of the Waikato Primary Industry Averse Event Cluster core group took place on Tuesday to review conditions and how farmers are coping, with group chair Neil Bateup warning ‘‘drought like conditions have been a feature of Waikato farming in recent summers’’.
The group flagged falling milk production, and cited concerns for the forestry sector that plantings late last year might not survive the summer due to the small root base if there isn’t significant rain.
However, according to Forest Owners Association spokesperson Don Carson, the dry weather isn’t a concern in the sector at present.
‘‘It’s to a great extent down to the supply of labour,’’ he said.
‘‘We do have a shortage of planting people in the industry.’’
Carson said the labour shortage meant an extended planting season that creates ‘‘a shorter opportunity for the seeds to get established’’.
‘‘You need a certain amount of time for the seeds to get established. If we were able to finish planting a few weeks earlier it would take a specially dry summer [to cause problems].’’
He said the sector needed Government help to access overseas labour, and without that the extended planting season increased the chances of the weather ‘‘getting you’’.
Carson also said Government estimates around the manpower needed to implement their ‘one billion trees’ programme were based on early 1990s planting data.
‘‘The labour force to do that 30 years ago doesn’t seem to be there now,’’ he said. ‘‘If it was easy we would have done it.’’ Hamish Levack, national president of the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association, agreed drought fears were not yet a major issue.
However, he did warn against complacency.
‘‘It’s not a major concern but is something we need to think about,’’ he said.
Laurie Forestry managing director Allan Laurie echoed remarks that drought was not a concern at present.
‘‘In short, no,’’ he said. However, he said some locations could be more adversely affected than others and that a long period of no rain would pose a threat.
He also backed Carson’s view on labour shortages.
‘‘The forestry industry is generally short staffed and we are concerned about it.’’
Laurie said bigger issues for the forestry sector at present were the Chinese economy and coronavirus outbreak, spruce storm damage in Europe and the Australian fires.