13 Aug 2021

On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

From On the Farm, 9:07 pm on 13 August 2021

It's been cold and miserable in Taranaki where farmers are heads down, tails up calving and farmers would quite like some sunshine in Southland to help lift spirits. Find out more about what's been happening on farms and orchards this week around New Zealand.

Calves at the calfeteria

Calves at the calfeteria Photo: RNZ/Sally Round

In Northland it's been drier this week especially in the east. A stock agent tells us the pressure is coming on now for feed ... that's normal for the time of year and means store cattle prices are down.

Around Pukekohe 20 millimetres of rain at the beginning of the week gave way to cold, clearing sky and a frost on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, lush growing potato crops on the higher ground escaped damage. With soils now dry enough to accept heavy machinery, mature potatoes are able to be  harvested.

Our contact in Waikato was in the calf shed when we called and about to head out again. Most farmers are at least two thirds of the way through calving now. There've been a few cold mornings this week and even a sprinkling of snow on some of the hills towards Ruapehu. Farmers are getting ready for another season of cropping and harvesting and there's expected to be a major shortfall of contractors after skilled tractor drivers from overseas who had stayed on for the last season returned home. Our contact says the cupboard is bare and he was expecting real struggles ahead to get crops in on time. Maize is due to go in in October.

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Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

The Bay of Plenty had cold winds to kick off the week. There's been good winter chill for the kiwifruit vines and a little more rain than the previous winter and more expected this weekend, so things are looking better than last year. Pruning should be finished by the end of August. Staff shortages have added pressure but a grower says they should get through OK. Avocado lovers have it sweet as there's a larger supply and fruit size is back to normal after last year's smaller fruit. The export season is due to start soon. The fruit will be heading to Asia and Australia which is expecting double the crop this year with more planting coming on stream. The grower says locals will probably put less volume through over the coming months to keep prices firm.

Our contact in Taranaki described conditions in the region as cold and miserable. There have been flurries of snow on higher altitude farms and a good dollop for the skifield on Mt Taranaki but our contact says that might have washed off in the rain that came towards the end of the week. Farmers are heads down, tails up calving. Grass growth - which has been reasonably good - has slowed down in the colder weather. A typical August.

A farmer in Manawatū has been set stocking ewes ready for lambing, enjoying time with her horses and catching up with maintenance jobs before the main part of lambing starts. They had about 10 centimetres of snow this week and that was bad timing for the early lambing ewes. Once it melts things turn muddy. The heifers have started calving. Cattle are clearing up left over brown stalky grass and making way for fresh spring growth.

A farmer in Wairoa on the East Coast says it was a cold start to the week and there was even the odd snowflake landing on his windscreen among the hail on a trip to town. There's been snow on the high hills and it was pretty icy even on the coast. He's preparing for cultivating his summer crops and thinking he'll be planting grass ahead of maize this year because protein prices around the world are up while maize has stagnated. He's also looking at growing legumes to naturally tune up his pastures. He can still step over the stream in front of his place, an indication that water levels are well down. He's expecting serious drought this year.

Hawke's Bay had a cold snap then it was mild again and by Friday it was spring ... the region got a bit of rain, but it's still dry. Grass is growing okay but there's a worry over what will happen with the lack of soil moisture. Some lambs perished in the storm. It's just unfortunate if peak lambing hits on stormy days. There's not much a farmer can do.

Wairarapa farmland in August

Wairarapa farmland in August Photo: RNZ/Sally Round

A dairy farmer in Wairarapa was thankful for the sun and a drying wind on Thursday after hail and sleet earlier in the week made tough conditions for calving. A few new borns were lost, even after a warm-up by the fire. He's one worker down so his small team is working 11 to 12 hour days seven days a week. Usually someone turns up through word of mouth but not this season.

And now to the top of the South where Golden Bay has been surprisingly sunny. There's been a metre of rain in the past 60 days and two thirds of that fell in the 12 days leading up to calving. Soils are bordering on saturation point. Most farmers have barely enough feed - it's been trampled into the ground and wasted and animal condition is not quite where it should be. The farmer we called is half way through calving. In the past year he has put cow collars on his 700 cows - which has been a huge investment. The collars pick up any behaviour outside the norm - they monitor eating, rumination and activity and he will get an alert on his phone if anything is amiss. The collars have allowed him to pick up metabolic disorders before they have really kicked in.

The snow that arrived in Marlborough earlier this week was timed well for high country farmers who are at least a couple of weeks away from lambing. One long-time farmer says it's nice to have had a return to a normal winter when snow arrives when you'd expect it.  He has plenty of feed for his stock. Coastal farmers haven't been as fortunate - they are in the thick of lambing and the cold, wet weather will have resulted in lamb losses.

The West Coast also had snow on the hills - the week then brought a mix of sun and rain and cold weather again on Friday. The amount of milk flowing into the vat is building as more cows calve - 20 percent are now in the shed on our contact's farm.  He says near Westport, where farms have been damaged by floodwaters, farmers are trying to find a way to feed stock on a lot less land. Some have sold animals. There's not a lot that can be done about pasture maintenance or renovation at this time of year. There may be a window in September but otherwise they might have to wait until November. The talk of the town on the Coast is the big rates increase. It was announced this week that West Coast Regional rates will jump by 30 percent this year.

Snow at Lewis Pass 9 August 2021

Photo: Supplied / Dani Rush

A farmer at Hororata in Canterbury says snow at the start of the week didn't amount to what was forecast  - a couple of inches fell on his farm and a bit more on the upper plains. Since then fine days have allowed cultivation to start. Grass growth is starting to move and there's hope that will continue.

Friday was a beautiful day in Balclutha with not a cloud in the sky. An unwanted 7 mm of rain arrived on Thursday. Most people in the area are well into calving but just the early birds have arrived on our contact's farms. He's expecting 940 cows to calve and in the thick of it, 50 calves will arrive each day. He's just visited Te Anau and says it's always quiet in winter but, without tourists, many restaurants and motels are closed and "for lease" signs are up.

It's been a wet week in Eastern Southland. The wind had just started to come up when we called on Friday morning so the farmer we spoke to was hoping it would  help dry out his sheep so they could be shorn. Lambing's at least three weeks away. He says a few fine warm days will help get the grass moving.  Farmers would quite like some sunshine - it'd help lift their spirits.