The prospect of further rain is worrying Northland farmers, coming on top of the power cuts, flooding and damage already inflicted by this week's violent storm, a farmer says.
Ian Walker, of Kaitaia, said that part of Northland had already had six weeks of rain and the land was saturated. Further rain, as forecast, would mean more flooding.
"I don't believe we've had a day without some rain, since the beginning of June, and so the whole of the Far North is totally saturated, and looking at the MetService's long-range forecast for the next 10 days, we're going to get rain every single day," Mr Walker said.
"So it's not good, obviously, for dairy farmers who are starting to calve now. Paddocks are absolutely soaked and, of course, if we get floods on top of that, it makes life difficult for everybody and it's not particularly pleasant for the animals either."
