Okaihau farmer Terence Brocx with cows on his farm, waiting for decent rain to ease off the pressure on pasture. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Okaihau farmer Terence Brocx with cows on his farm, waiting for decent rain to ease off the pressure on pasture. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Parched land with next to no rain for nearly two months is forcing Northland farmers to reduce their stock and pray for at least 100mm of rain before the end of January.
They fear there is a very real possibility that drought will be declared in Northland if the current dry spell continues for another two to three weeks.
Rainfall figures from MetService showed Whangarei received only 0.4mm and Kaikohe 6.6mm of rain from January 1 to 1pm yesterday.
Whangarei received 20.4mm of rain in December last year compared with 89.6mm the district normally receives during the month.
Kaikohe received 33.8mm when 111mm of rain usually falls in the area in December.
Northland Regional Council hydrologist Jason Donaghy said Kerikeri at the Bay of Islands' Golf Club recorded 8.5mm of rain in December- lowest on record- and only 0.5mm for January until about 3pm yesterday.
Waima in south Hokianga received the highest rain of 22.5mm in January until mid afternoon yesterday while Marsden Pt, Otiria, and Mangakahia at Twin Bridges did not record any rain.
Dairy farmer Terence Brocx of Okaihau in the mid north said a wet and cold spring followed by a dry summer with no cyclones forecast could have a significant impact on Northland's economy.
"The situation is very concerning. We're on the verge of a major drought unless we receive 100mm plus rain because ground conditions are very dry," he said.
Mr Brocx milks 650 cows on two farms and said he had sold 5 per cent of his stock over the past three weeks due to a lack of pasture.
"Farmers started spending this year on maintenance, fertilisers, and so forth as catch up for the past two years but this dry weather has put brakes on that and the current dairy payout does not sustain our expenditure."
Terence Brocx on his farm between Okaihau and Kerikeri. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Ruawai dairy farmer Garth Preston milks 840 cows and expects to sell between 20 and 30 cattle by the end of this month.
"We've had an extremely wet second half of September last year when, coming out of winter, farmers normally grow more grass that they need but they couldn't because it was so wet so milk production was dramatically down.
"Now it's also down because of lack of rainfall. We'd ideally want a minimum of between 70 and 80mm of rain to maintain farms in summer," Mr Preston said.
He said although the ground was pretty dry, farmers were getting by but warned the situation could be dire if it did not rain in the next two weeks.
"It's a matter of culling older, poorer cows now who haven't got calves when you'd normally do that around April and May. Farmers are biting the bullet and getting rid of their stock now because of the weather situation," he said.
Northland Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Julie Jonker said farmers were generally good business managers but the dry spell has put added pressure on them.
"We're starting to see an increase in the number of stock that are being sold at stockyards.
Farmers thought they'd sell their stock now than when the grass runs out."
She said an increased demand for supplement would put prices up.
"If farmers get 30 to 40mm of rain each week, they can save the season. But it's very much a wait and see situation. We plan for the worst but hope for the best," she said.
Ms Jonker said the trust was closely monitoring the situation with the Ministry of Primary Industries and other stakeholders.
