Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Unvaccinated shearers are a vexing issue for East Coast sheep stations, the feed situation's come right in Manawatu and everyone's making baleage in Canterbury between showers. On the Farm is a wrap of conditions on orchards and farms around the country.
It's drying out nicely on a sheep and beef farm in Northland's Ohaeawai area. The grass is starting to harden off a little with more seedhead in the pasture. With quality starting to go off, cattle are starting to leave the farm and our contact is not making any move to replace them as the beef schedule is falling off quite quickly now ... there has been so much demand to get cattle killed.
Around Pukekohe it's been a dry week, often calm and cloudy. More irrigation is being applied now The early sown onion crops are maturing and harvesting is underway.
It's been humid and hot in Waikato with some sun in the mix. Maize and chicory are jumping out of the ground - they love the humidity. Silage has gone into pits and baleage is being made. Grass is lower in energy now that's it's long and going to seed. Prices have been amazing for beef and lamb with strong global markets. Cattle weights are down and some farmers are playing catchup trying to fatten their animals while some are keen to get them processed fearing potential disruption at the works due to Covid.
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
About 60 millimetres of rain has fallen in the area southwest of Mt Taranaki over the past fortnight. Consistent showers are money from heaven - lots of grass is keeping farmers happy. The snow line is moving higher up the mountain in the warmth. Mating is just coming to an end and it's been a reasonable-to-sound season. The farmer we called had just arrived in town to get vaccine passes laminated.
Regular rain has topped off an exceptional spring on the East Coast. But low Covid-19 vaccination rates are exercising the minds of some farmers here. What should they do about unvaccinated shearers who'll be coming on farm in February? A shearing contractor told one farmer not all his gang are vaccinated. At bigger stations there can be more than two dozen people in a woolshed at shearing time with not a lot of room between the stands. The farmer says sheep need to be shorn but the workers' vaccination is beyond his control. If markets start mandating everyone in the chain needs to be vaccinated then problems will arise. It's hard enough getting shearers as it is.
The vaccination question is also very much front of mind in Hawke's Bay. An ag consultant told us it is a challenge for those managing horticultural operations as they need workers but not all of them are fully vaxxed, apart from the RSE workers. On apple orchards they're hard out thinning. Thirty millimetres of rain last week topped things up nicely as it was starting to dry out. Crop loads are pretty good.
The feed situation has come right in Manawatu after being a bit tight earlier in the spring. Quite a few ewes are a tad light but lambs are doing OK. Soil moisture levels are just so. Cows are still calving in the hill country. Farmers are busy drenching or drafting or early weaning. A consultant says farmers remain a bit shocked and stunned at all the changes which could potentially affect them as well as the effects of Covid. Here too there are two groups of farmers ... some are unloading cattle now to the works while others are hoping to grow them to heavier weights because they have the feed and are hoping prices will hold.
These cows on a Manawatū dairy farm have had their tails marked ready for mating Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
A dairy farmer near Carterton in Wairarapa says his farm is extremely dry. He's had just two millimetres of rain the whole of November after a cracking October. He's started restricting irrigation from his bore - closing up some paddocks and concentrating on keeping half the farm watered. Milk production's still good ..The cows are cycling really well . Artificial insemination is finished and the bulls are out to pick up the tail enders.
Pinot Gris and Pinor Noir flowering has started in vineyards in the Nelson Motueka region and owners are hoping there won't be too much rain - misty rain's been hanging about - and that's not helpful. Growers certainly don't want the moisture they had at this time last year - they then had damaging hail on Boxing Day so there were very poor grape yeilds. They'd like hot fine weather. Hop growers and vineyard owners are competing for staff and the going rate for vineyard work has lifted to about $26 dollars an hour.
In Marlborough's high country the grass is green and growing and there've been thunderstorms, rain and flash flooding. Our contact was just about to start tailing his merino lambs and dipping them to prevent flystrike and lice. He's expecting a far better lamb count than last year - even though it was cold and wet over lambing. Merino lambing percentages are much lower than sheep producing stronger wool. He has ultra-fine merinos and says anything over 80 percent is satisfactory. The sheep can have twins but often they are very small so survivability is not always good.
On the West Coast - between Hokitika and Greymouth - it's been warm and sunny which is a good thing because between 150 and 200 millimetres of rain is forecast for the next couple of days. About the same amount fell last weekend! Milk production's behind season to date. A farmer says mating's still underway and says Westland Milk Products suppliers will be pleased Fonterra has lifted its forecast payout. Westland's new owners Yili are paying suppliers the same as Fonterra plus ten cents per kilogramme of milk solids. He says there's a car to be won if the West Coast can get to a 90 percent vaccinated rate by Christmas.
Everyone's making baleage in South Canterbury - between showers. Some are already onto the second cut. Having the shed full gives some peace of mind in case of a summer drought. There's ample feed around for stock on sheep, beef and dairy properties. Once tailing's done farmers will get lamb weights up as quickly as possible. Winter crops are going in and our contact says with new regulations coming in people are taking a lot more care about how and where they cultivate.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
