Snow does little to blunt drought

Melting snow has combined with the first decent rainfall in six months to provide some relief for dry Hurunui – but it would be a stretch to call it a drought breaker.

Much of the snow over the last week has thawed and gone into soils to go some way to replenishing ground moisture that has taken a hammering in the district, particularly extending from Hawarden to Cheviot.

The problem is that it’s arrived too late for farmers as winter pulls the plug on major grass or winter crop growth.

Snow, sleet and rain topped up gauges by 20mm to 50mm over Hurunui farmland in the first major rain of the year.

Federated Farmers North Canterbury meat & fibre chairman Dan Hodgen said the snow and rain event would be of little initial help for farmers.

‘‘I suppose technically it is [a drought breaker], but the problem is we are past rain helping in the short term. We are not going to have grass belting out of the ground. It does give a bit of hope for spring.’’

He said the extra moisture was unlikely to boost paddocks or winter feed crops as their growth was limited to a minimal amount in the middle of the day when ground and air temperatures warmed up.

Nonetheless it would provide some mental lift for farmers.

Rainfall records showed White Gorge on the Waipara River had 148mm of rain in the last six months, boosted by 58mm over two days last week. Lowry Hills, overlooking Cheviot, received about 40mm over June 18 and 19 compared with 118mm the last six months.

The June 18 snowfall was ‘‘short and sharp’’ in the heart of Hurunui’s drought zone, with much of it melting after temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius the following day and lesser amounts remained on the ground.

A series of hard frosts have followed the storm and Hodgen recorded minus 7C at his family farm, The Pyramid, in Hawarden on Wednesday. Frost might put more pressure on feed being fed to stock and cause lucerne crops to become dormant.

Hodgen said events held by rural support trusts and other groups had been good for farmer morale during the drought.

The short days over winter were hard on farmers, as they were for anyone, and they seemed to be getting through the difficult time in reasonable spirits, he said.

‘‘In a normal year people would have complained about the snow, but this year it’s just ho-hum and another problem. It’s like we have been getting too used to adversity.’’

He said the snow had fortunately landed outside of lambing and would probably be viewed more positively than negatively as it would help lift low ground moisture levels.