KEY POINTS:
Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen says people faced with the hot weather are not panicking and are still generally calling the conditions very dry with some areas of drought.
"I think there is a bit [of overplay] and it worries me and that's why I really baulk at using terms like 'crisis' and 'drought' because farmers get stressed enough as it is without other people telling them they should be more stressed than they are."
Pedersen does not think the situation will reach a crisis.
"It's a matter of doing things in an orderly fashion and I've got confidence that that's exactly what is happening.
"Every dry day is another day closer to rain. It is going to rain again, it always rains again in this country."
Ironically, rain could bring a new danger.
Dry grass will start rotting after rain and farmers will need supplementary feed for about two weeks until the new grass grows through, provided enough rain falls in the first place that is.
The weather has been well predicted and Pedersen is confident the vast majority of farmers are taking orderly action.
"In the middle of it it's hard, you look at your dry farm and you worry every day, pray for rain and a year later when the grass is green and the animals are being fed again you look back and think it was awful but it was no big deal really."
Chairman of Federated Farmers dairy section Frank Brenmuhl says: "The one thing farmers should do is seek advice if they have a problem. Don't try and handle it alone."
A problem shared is a problem halved and the knowledge well in this country runs deep.
Farmers need to draw on each other's knowledge and that of support organisations to make contingency plans and ensure they do not leave taking required action too late.
Meat & Wool chairman Mike Petersen says farmers were not panicking, were in control but were right on the edge.
There are some serious drought areas, with other critical areas verging on drought, Petersen says.
The worst hit areas are central Hawkes Bay and down the east coast of the North Island and North Canterbury, while the west coast of the North Island was probably as dry as it had been for 25 years, he says.
"Farmers are resilient and they can withstand a couple of seasons of poor pricing and the odd climatic event, but this has been so prolonged now we've got a real crisis of confidence about whether there's a future in the [sheep] industry at all."
Last week Environment Waikato declared an official drought zone, with chairman Peter Buckley saying it was the driest January in more than century.
Industry, local and Government organisations have set up a drought response group.
"People can't count on the rain coming any time soon and with drought conditions predicted to continue to the end of autumn, we need to co-ordinate our efforts to minimise any environmental, economic and social problems that might arise from the big dry," Buckley says.
FEED STOCK MATCHMAKER
Federated Farmers last week activated a free phone number to help farmers who are having difficulty finding feed stock.
Charlie Pedersen says not many calls have been received so far but it is early and volume is building.
"At the moment it seems that for every couple of people who are wanting feed or grazing for their cows there's someone who's got some for sale so it's pretty much in balance at the moment."
Farmers can call the 0800 335 663 number and register their feed requirements or alternatively they can specify the type and amount of any surplus available for purchase by other farmers.
MetService has been great in predicting the weather and most farmers will have been through similar cycles before and will be well prepared, Pedersen says.
"If their long-term forecast remains correct we won't see sustained rain in dry areas until April so farmers need to plan for this."
Federation members can also contact their local provincial president for advice.
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Discussing the weather will be far from idle chit-chat when Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton meets with industry leaders tomorrow.
The pow-wow at Parliament will discuss the impact of the ongoing hot, dry weather and potential contingency plans.
"If the dry weather continues, the situation will become very serious in some areas," Anderton says. "I have called this meeting to get an understanding of the overall picture, as well as of what is happening regionally."
Tomorrow's meeting is planned as an opportunity to share ideas about handling the dry weather and to see whether a national co-ordination of resources and initiatives is needed.
Industry leaders have been asked to detail the situation in their respective areas, including current and planned initiatives they have put in place to minimise the impact of the dry weather.
WHO'S HUNTING WHO?
A goose hunt to control Canada geese was a great success or a fiasco, depending on who you ask.
Phil Teal, manager of the Wellington Fish & Game region, calls the hunt on and around Lake Wairarapa a great success with 300 goose hunters dispatching an estimated 1000 birds.
"The option of culling excess geese numbers from a helicopter during the moult is both expensive and dangerous, and naturally hunters who have paid for their hunting licence are not happy seeing Fish & Game funds being spent on these culls," Teal says.
The aim is to maintain goose numbers at 2000 birds and there is some way to go to achieve the target, he says.
"The hunts provide hunter opportunities, build relationships between farmers, hunters and Fish & Game, and as skills and relationships build, the hunts will result progressively in effective goose management into the future."
Some farmers seem to have missed out on the relationship building bit.
Anders Crofoot, president for Wairarapa Federated Farmers says the hunt was a fiasco.
"Fish & Game have said that helicopter culls are expensive and dangerous but the fiasco that unfolded over the weekend put more than geese at risk," Crofoot says. "Federated Farmers has learned in an ironic twist that Fish & Game had to hire a helicopter to rescue one of their jet boats that became stuck in the shallow lake."
Only 40 per cent of the required cull was achieved with 1000 bids still to go, he says.
"Fish & Game are implying that there is an opportunity for ongoing culls but the reality is they are not doing their job. There is one chance to cull which is during the moult before fledging birds take flight and this year the opportunity has been wasted."
Sounds like open season on Fish & Game.
FERTILISER MERGER
Kiwi fertiliser co-operative Ravensdown will merge with Western Australia's United Farmers Co-operative company after farmers across the Tasman last week voted overwhelmingly to accept an offer for the business.
Ravensdown chief executive Rodney Green said only eight people voted against the deal in which UFCC farmers will get A$6 million ($6.8 million) in Ravensdown shares in exchange for their UFCC stock.
Revenue at Ravensdown was $496.3 million in the year ending last May, while UFCC is the third largest fertiliser distributor in Western Australia, supplying about 230,000 tonnes a year.
"We would say it's a merger but of course what's happening is Ravensdown is acquiring the assets," Green says.
Cheaper prices is the objective. There would be A$4 million of immediate synergies coming out of the Australian business, Green says.
"Certainly quite a bit of it's to do with the ammonium sulphate but also of course they're operating a standalone company, with its own head office, its own chief executive and chief financial officer, accounting systems, all those sort of things and of course we can bring all of those back into New Zealand."
Chairman Bill McLeod says there could also be opportunities for new arable agricultural chemical registration.
"In a world of rapidly changing fertiliser commodity prices, we felt there were significant advantages to be gained for our co-operative and our New Zealand farmers by expanding into Australia."
