3 May 2011

$450,000 damage bill for Landcorp

6:06 am on 3 May 2011

Landcorp estimates it faces a repair bill of $450,000 for one of its farms in central Hawke's Bay, which was badly damaged by last week's floods.

Te Apiti station was the worst hit of three Landcorp farms in the area between Cape Kidnappers and Porangahau.

Landcorp says much of Te Apiti station (1200 hectares) has been destroyed.

Chief executive Chris Kelly says 30% of the farm has been lost and boundary fences are largely gone.

Landcorp runs up to 14-thousand stock units at Te Apiti and he expects it will have to move about a third of the sheep and cattle to other farms in the region.

Access to the farm is still cut off and Mr Kelly estimates it will be at least three weeks before the road is open.

He says it's possible that a magnitude 4.5 earthquake that occured during the storm, may have contributed to the depth and severity of the slips.