Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
In Northland it's been so dry grass growth has all but stopped. The meat works in Dargaville has closed because of covid and a lack of water. Moerewa is down to one shift. Some grocery stores are running out of basics. Last week a supermarket in Dargaville had no meat at all apart from venison. Agencies and some farmers have got together to try to ensure people have enough to eat. A privately-owned and registered meat works has offered to kill stock but the problem is finding an inspector without covid. Kumara growers are donating kumara. Rural support Trust and Civil defence have a plan in place to help any farmer who is hospitalized with Covid - they have people who can step in and manage the farm for 5 to 10 days until the farmer has recovered. Fortunately they haven't needed to swing into action on that front yet.
In the Pukekohe district the fine weather's ideal for kiwifruit harvesting but vegetable crops are still relying on irrigation. Merchants say some fertilisers have doubled in price from 12 months ago. There appears no end to price rises.
Waikato desperately needs rain - it's a bit of a green drought. Clay soils and farms north of Morrinsville are badly affected. Feed is tight everywhere. Maize is being harvested and is also being fed out. Most farmers are milking just once a day now or are on 16 hourly milkings.
Photo: Supplied / BlueGrass Contracting
The Bay of Plenty has been bathed in sunshine and could also do with rain. Contractors are flat out with the maize harvest here too - per hectare yields are down a little on last year. Kiwifruit orchards are gearing up for picking - only then will growers know how much fruit was damaged or lost during Cyclone Dovi.
King Country is also very dry - it's been about three weeks since there was any rain. The region's having the odd fog in the morning now but really fierce heat in the afternoons. It's been a bit of a tough season. Farmers are still struggling to get space for lambs and cattle at the works.
It's been a while since rain has fallen in Taranaki too - and even though it was a huge amount - more would be welcome - thankfully there's some in the forecast for next week. Provincial milk production is about 6% behind last year. Empty rates seem to be averaging 12- 14%.
In Hawkes Bay the royal gala apple harvest is just wrapping up - it's the biggest variety and pickers are now on to Jazz, Dazzle and the tiny Rocket apple. The weather's not looking flash for next week so orchardists are hurriedly trying to get crops in. With covid hitting picking gangs it's an extremely stressful time - when apples are ready to go they're ready to go...if anyone's looking for work there's plenty going.
In the Gisborne region Covid is rampant - our contact has it and his entire household - he says it's a major for fruit picking, vegie growing, freezing works and even rural supply stores. Businesses are really starting to feel the squeeze. He says there's been a big super-spreader event in Wairoa - which has hit the works really hard. That will have ramifications for the store market - there'll be more animals coming onto the market because farmers can't get them into the works but people might be reluctant to buy if they haven't been able to off load their own animals and will be nervous about getting space down the track. For fruit growers in or approaching harvest it's a double whammy - there are no backpackers here to pick and a reduced RSE workforce and now those who are available, are getting sick. The first Gisborne mandarins are coming off the trees next week - that's early - and the lemon harvest is going great guns - we're told the money is unreal. Some NZ lemons are exported to Russia - our contact says he's not sure what's planned for them.
Photo:
A vet in Wairarapa says there are five farm vets from his work in isolation and covid is well and truly through businesses and clients. Pregnancy testing has just finished and official results are empty rates of between 7 and 28 percent. Spore counts are still high and some farmers are seeing facial eczema in animals for the first time .
Manawatu and Horowhenua have had beautiful temperatures and everyone with enough moisture is growing a lot of grass - however people on the lighter soils, near the coast and without irrigation are struggling.Vegies are growing extremely well but having enough people to pick them is the problem. One big grower with a staff of a couple of hundred has 70 to 80 off either with covid or isolating. Ultimately that'll mean very expensive vegies if you can't get them picked.
The weather's been good for picking fruit in the Nelson/Motueka region. Our contact near Richmond says heavy morning dews and long grass in the orchard have staff complaining about wet feet. Just wear gumboots, he says! Bosc pears and royal gala and premiere star apples are being picked and packed this week but maturing is very mixed - so the grower is having to do four picks.
Apples waiting to be pressed and made into cider Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
A hill country farmer near Blenheim in Marlborough has never seen so much quality grass at this time of year - so ideal conditions for getting Ewes primed for tupping. Cows are being weaned and calves are in front of mum to get the best feed. A grape grower in the province says brix (or sugar) levels in sauvignon blanc grapes are sitting at 17 to 18 but need to reach 21 or 22 by the time they're harvested. This'll start in about 10 days' time - while hand picking of pinot noir grapes is already underway.
When we called a West Coast farmer up the Grey Valley he was feeling hot and bothered. Rain hasn't fallen on his farm for two weeks and it's been unusually warm. Irrigation's keeping the grass growing though so milk production's holding up. While the ground's firm he's been getting the last of the re-grassing done.
Harvesting continues to be sluggish in Canterbury with only a few hours a day when conditions good enough for the job. Grain prices are climbing partly due to low global stocks but also the impact of what's happening in Ukraine. Small seed contracts are out and there has been a lift across the board, which is much needed for arable farmers. Dairying is following a similar pattern with production down a bit but prices up considerably.
Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Temperatures reached a testy 30 degrees in Central Otago this week. On farm, contactors are doing a third cut of lucence - but they're struggling to keep up as finding staff to work the machinery's proving difficult. Hill country stock are doing well and lambs are being drafted and going away at good weights.
Southland is very dry. A farmer at Edendale says his herd of 700 cows are getting 7 kilograms of supplementary feed a day each, to insure milk production stays on track. This is costing about $40,000 a month. Cows have been scanned and the list to go to the freezing works is done - but finding space is becoming increasingly hard, mainly due to covid issues.
