Northland has asked the Government to formally recognise it as a drought area, again.
A meeting of farming, horticulture, and council representatives agreed to ask Agriculture Minister David Carter to declare a medium-scale climatic event for the whole region.
The Northland rural support trust says the region has not recovered from a severe drought last summer-autumn.
With little or no rain predicted before Christmas, co-ordinator Julie Jonker says the outlook is increasingly grim.
She says pasture is so short that many farmers are keeping milk production going by feeding their cows palm kernel extract.
Ms Jonker says a Government drought declaration would help with the process of providing advice and support for farmers and growers in Northland.
