Farmers say water storage key

Farmers battling potentially one of the worse droughts on record told Labour leader David Shearer yesterday production from Wairarapa farms would double if winter water could be captured and stored.

Mr Shearer and shadow regional development minister Shane Jones were on a fact-finding trip to Wairarapa in the wake of a farmers' meeting earlier this week that resolved to urge the Government to officially declare Wairarapa in drought.

While on the Rose family farm in rural Carterton, Mr Shearer was told by farmer John Rose that by "watering Wairarapa" the district's contribution to the New Zealand economy would double.

With the farm in the grip of drought, Mr Rose said sprinklers used to irrigate the dairy property were only able to be used for a quarter of their normal cycle. Stock were simply being kept alive until rain comes. The dairy herd has been chopped back by 100 cows with 440 now being milked.

Mr Rose said those 100 cows "could have earned the country $200,000 next year".

Grass was in such short supply that the entire herd was being allocated a total area of only 2ha a day for grazing.

Along with many other farmers throughout Wairarapa, the farm was relying on feeding out precious supplementary feed such as silage, and was feeding imported palm kernel.

Earlier, during a morning tea session at Wild Oats cafe, Carterton, Mr Shearer quizzed Wairarapa Federated Farmers members about the impact of the big dry in the district.

President Jamie Falloon said "water storage is the key".

Not only would captured water solve irrigation woes, it would also protect rivers from low summer flows.

Mr Falloon said while dairy farmers were facing decisions such as relying totally on feeding out and of drying off herds early, sheep farmers had culled their ewes, sold off surplus lambs and were contemplating whether they would have to sell off capital stock.

He said by urging the Government to declare an official drought, farmers were "not simply looking for hand-outs".

"Water storage that would give us a guaranteed supply has got to be the answer," Mr Falloon said.

Mr Shearer said his visit to Wairarapa was to "get a first-hand account of what is happening and to learn from farmers what relief they will need". He said Labour "like everyone else" wants to get a good line on the situation "and to help the best way we can".

IrrigationNZ - a national body representing irrigators - has joined the push for water storage projects.

Chief executive Andrew Curtis said storage needed to be "fast tracked" to drought-proof agriculture. He said the summer drought had already cost the country more than a billion dollars.

"The answer lies with a combination of regional and on-farm water storage development," Mr Curtis said.