Farmers face a drier start to winter
Hawke’s Bay farmer Matt Wade says the unusually dry autumn has put him in a worse position than at this time last year when the region was emerging from a severe summer drought.
‘‘Normally you can bank on rainfall in April. We are green tinged at the moment but there’s no growth,’’ Wade says.
Farmers in eastern parts of the country are facing an unusually dry autumn, and face the potential for a drier winter, according to The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) forecasts.
Canterbury dairy farmer Haden Usher said the big concern in the region was dry winter support blocks where winter crops were looking ‘‘pretty depressed’’.
Farmers were having to work out how they would get through winter and would probably have to pay more for baleage due to demand, Usher said.
Niwa meteorologist Ben Noll said the La Nina weather phenomenon had brought unusually dry conditions to eastern parts of the country for this time of year, with forecasts of either lower or average rainfall between May and July.
La Nina traditionally brought higher rainfall to the east of the two islands but mother nature had thrown a curve-ball this year and was bringing dry conditions due to cooler ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, he said.
Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne were in meteorological droughts, he said.
Wade had bought in extra feed as a reserve last year for his cows and deer, and was buying in extra hay for winter.
Luckily, there were good levels of stock feed available after a productive spring, he said.
During last year’s drought there had been a short supply of feed in certain regions and farmers from less affected regions organised feed runs to support them.
A $500,000 drought relief fund set up by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor last year was extended last week.
An extra $900,000 of funding will be used to help farmers around the country, and the current large-scale adverse event classification will be expanded to include Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, and Otago.
‘‘Autumn has got off to an extremely dry start in multiple regions along the east coast of the country. Forecast rainfall is not expected to be enough to allow parched soils and pastures time to recover before winter,’’ O’Connor said.
‘‘This is the second consecutive year of drought for parts of the country and low groundwater levels have not been able to recharge.’’
The new funding will ensure feed support services can continue and that extra wellbeing assistance will be available to more farmers affected by drought.
It would remain in place until the end of June, when it would be reviewed, he said
In Hawke’s Bay, April rainfall was just 40 per cent of average rainfall for the month. The north of the region fared better than the south, while soil moisture levels were in the lowest 10th percentile for this time of year at Bridge Pa, Crownthorpe and Taharua, according to the regional council’s own weather update.
There was some hope that a band of rain over the Tasman Sea would bring rain from late Sunday through until next Wednesday, but it was too early to have confidence it would arrive, according to the council update.
Wade said he was keeping a close eye on the weather forecast for something promising on the horizon. ‘‘You think about your next options, what stock you can get rid of, things you can do.
‘‘My agent said space for cattle at the works is pretty tight at the moment with the whole of the east coast being in the same position.’’
He would also dry off his dairy cattle three or four weeks earlier than normal to reduce the demand for feed, he said.