Banks water vaults driest ever for Peninsula farmers
Don’t be fooled by the soft, picturesque autumnal tones of Banks Peninsula. All 1300 square kilometres of it is in its third year of dry.
On the endless hills - marked by hundreds of little bays, hidden bush and abundant farmland – what started off as a dry year (little d) has evolved into one featuring the dreaded big D - Drought.
Visitors fall in love with Banks Peninsula but the visitor farmers really want to see show up is rain.
For Hamish and Annabel Craw, this is the first time they have sent stock away to graze; 350 hoggets have gone for a ‘‘holiday’’ to Dunsandal. Hamish says they moved fast and big when in November they, along with other famers, called Alliance agent Mark Anderson with a request - ‘‘sell’’.
‘‘We knew it was potentially dire so we took a coordinated approach and sold lambs at 21kgs. Normally we would keep them to 45kgs. It is gutting to sell your prime lambs at half the weight but we had no choice.’’
Being a dry stock farm the Craws and other Banks Peninsula farmers are in the hands of the rain gods. There is no irrigation, there is no plan B.
The natural springs and aquifers on the farm are running dangerously dry. ‘‘It’s going to be a tight winter and whether there will or won’t be stock and house water relies completely on whether there will or won’t be rain,’’ Hamish says.
‘‘It’s desperately needed to recharge the aquifers and the springs to replenish the soils’’.
Being a relatively small area the peninsula tends to fly under the radar in comparison to much bigger districts hit just as severely by the dry, such as Marlborough and North Canterbury.
Down the road and round the corner at Menzies Bay, it’s much the same at Hamish and Emma Menzies’ place.
The Craws and Menzies, like many Banks Peninsula farmers, stay connected and use the support around them.
Hamish Menzies echoes the sentiment of Hamish Craw – ‘‘Don’t wait, get on the phone, be proactive, not reactive. MPI can’t do a whole lot unless they know about it.’’
The Menzies have also sent stock away – theirs went to Barrhill in Mid Canterbury. ‘‘In reality we have been planning for this since the middle of last year, that’s when we could see what could be coming and put Plan B into action, we started sourcing feed in the middle of last year.’’
A call to MPI was made in March to alert them of the extent of the issue, and feed has since been organised.
‘‘We are very grateful to both Banks Peninsula Transport, and Mark Anderson, our local Alliance agent, who coordinated proactive approach very early for delivering feed.’’
Hamish Menzies says good relationships with local contractors and meat companies are invaluable at times like this.
‘‘When everybody is stressed the loyalty that we have shown over the years has paid dividends in terms of support for our farm.
‘‘It’s never been this dry in living memory,’’ Hamish Menzies says. ‘‘Substantial rain is needed to recharge the springs, but at least today we are one day closer to that rain.’’