Farmers are generally well-placed heading into winter this year although pasture growth in May did not match the excellent recovery of last year.
"Snow and frosts at the end of the month slowed pasture growth and stock are in good condition although some farmers have lower stock numbers than usual for winter," Annette Carey from the Ministry of Primary Industries said.
Dairy production ended the season slightly up on last year.
Ms Carey said dairy farmers had culled more cows in the past couple of months, taking advantage of the relatively good beef prices to reduce numbers of poorer performing cows.
Meteorologist Stephen Glassey said Hawke's Bay had a fairly mild autumn with sunshine hours above normal but a polar blast from the Antarctic brought with it some unusual weather patters.
