Waiau farmer Henry Pinckney says support following the November earthquake has been great.
Waiau farmer Henry Pinckney says support following the November earthquake has been great.
Quake affected farmers in North Canterbury are coming to the realisation they may have to change how they farm in the future.
The extent of destruction to land and property following November's Kaikoura-Hurunni earthquake is still unclear, but it's possible businesses will have to adapt and diversify to remain sustainable.
High country farmer Henry Pinckney, based near Waiau, has a 1400-hectare property with around 300 hectares badly affected.
He believed the majority of damage was fixable but the winter ahead would determine what was salvageable.
The instability of the land and the accessibility of tracks was a concern and it could be further compromised by another large aftershock or a wet winter.
"If the water starts pooling in the cracks and fissures, we are likely to have more slips and lose more land or it could simply become unsafe to farm on."
Henry said a funded land remediation project is being proposed to investigate how best to move forward looking at all options including the status quo.
Some choices raised at recent meetings were covenanting or diversifying and whether to attempt land remediation in the short term before winter.
Henry, meanwhile, was in the process of fixing and renewing fences.
He had two fencing contractors courtesy of the Government's labour initiative funded scheme coming to his farm.
"Getting the right skills to the right place is great and saves wasting time. The support has been awesome and the 0800 [327 646] helpline has pushed things along with some really cool stuff happening.
"We had a bloke come up from Otago with a case of beer and food. He was having sleepless nights worrying about us and decided to come and help," he said.
Summer was traditionally a busy time for sheep farmers with the shearing season in full swing.
The earthquake had impacted significantly with many shearing sheds badly damaged or declared unsafe.
There is concern that the instability of land ruptured by the earthquakes and the accessibility of tracks could be further compromised by another large aftershock or a wet winter.
Federated Farmers earthquake recovery liaison Grant Campbell said farmers were rallying, sharing sheds and resources, but in a future rebuild they would have to meet compliance.
"Some farmers might be unaware that they will need resource consent to build new sheds on a different site. If you've got 2000 ewes and your house or shed is munted the last thing you probably want to be thinking about is tackling mountains of paperwork," he said.
Henry advised fellow farmers not to be too proud and to use the resources on offer from Federated Farmers and the Government.
"They'll be better for it in the long run. The sooner they get back on track the better for not just their farm but the wider community."
The united primary sector response to what was a catastrophic event was having a galvanising effect after the difficult, uncertain days following the earthquake.
"We lost four chimneys on our house and the track to our property was 'shagged'. But it's all fixable and I'm sure it will all come right and we'll one day look back on it all," he said.
