There's "a lot of hands on deck" pitching in and helping farmers get back on their feet after the recent flooding in Canterbury, DairyNZ Farm Performance head of South Island Tony Finch says.
It was going to be "a real slog and a long road to recovery" for some farmers, who were dealing with compromised productive land, feed and infrastructure, Finch told The Country Sport Breakfast's Brian Kelly.
Others had less damage from surface flooding but would still need help, so it was a challenge making sure everyone was taken care of.
"There's a lot of hands on deck, we're very much into recovery mode - it's really humbling when you see farmers, their neighbours, the community and wider stakeholders come together and help farmers get through this adverse event."
There was "wide and ranging" assistance for those in need, from DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb NZ, Rural Support Trust - plus farmers' personal advisers were also able to offer help, Finch said.
There were also feed coordination planning services and plenty of tools available on DairyNZ's website.
"It's important that people start to think about next spring and the impact of feed availability - thinking about next season becomes quite critical to those that have been impacted," Finch said.
DairyNZ Farm Performance head of South Island Tony Finch. Photo / Supplied
The flooding had highlighted the importance of being prepared for wet conditions, and there were measures farmers could take to mitigate the impact of an adverse weather event.
"It's around good management practice, it's around putting in place a plan and making sure it's in writing. Having it in your head is good - but it needs to be put down on paper so you can show people what you're doing," Finch said.
Farmers needed to make sure critical source areas, breaks and buffers were in place, and that their cows were looked after.
"All farmers need to think about what they can do if they get a significant event, where they need to move cows to keep them well fed and comfortable."
"At the end of the day, a cow wants to be warm, wants to be well fed, and wants to have somewhere they can rest and lie down and be comfortable."
Mob sizes needed to be at a manageable level, so farmers could identify certain cows, for example, those that were lighter, younger or calving, Finch said.
Listen below:
"If there's bad weather coming, you want to make sure that you're giving animals more scope and giving them more feed and in areas that are more sheltered - that's what we need people to be thinking about."
Also in today's interview: Finch talked about the recent "excellent" South Island Dairy Event (SIDE).
