Persistent rain leaves district bogged down

Storm clouds brewed as Dannevirke Bowling Club's Bryne and Grinlington Cup began on Sunday. Play was abandoned during the first games with the greens sodden and hail-covered.

With more than 277mm of rain recorded in September on
Top Grass Rd, west of Dannevirke, who would blame farmers for moaning?

"We've got the cleanest mud in 40 years," Maharahara dairy farmer Jill Ross said.

And while it was tough on stock, Mrs Ross said dairy calves had come through well.

Meanwhile, in upper Norsewood, the September rainfall was a more modest 106mm.

"It's not exactly chicken-feed, although we have haven't drowned yet either," weather-watcher Lyn McConchie said.

But Brent Stewart said the wet weather had made things very difficult on his dairy farm north of Dannevirke.

"Apart for 10 days in March, it's been wet all the time," he said.

Another farmer said the wet weather was making it hard to get across paddocks.

"You leave your gumboots behind in the mud," he said.

And with hail storms last Sunday and just a couple of fine days, paddocks aren't getting a chance to dry out.

Drive east of Dannevirke and it becomes apparent what a battle farmers are facing, with cultivated paddocks muddy bogs and water unable to drain away and running across Route 52.

After almost 12 months of not-so-great weather, even home gardeners are despairing.

"Last summer was the worst on record here," Evan Nattrass of Woodville said.

"Our garden was pretty much a flop. The continuous rain didn't allow seedlings to grow and the lack of sun meant tomatoes were a failure.

"Now I think the weather is just trying to beat its own record this year."

Dannevirke's Neil Filer, president of Tararua Federated Farmers, said farmers were tired of the continuing rain. And while there was plenty of grass on farms across the district, making the best use of it had been a problem.

The wet spring has also made it harder for dairy farmers to detect if their cows are ready for mating, which could affect reproduction rates.

Detecting cows on heat is critical for a successful herd reproduction programme.

Missing or wrongly identifying cows on heat can cost farmers thousands of dollars each year through reduced in-calf rates and later calving patterns.

DairyNZ senior developer Mark Blackwell said the wet conditions, coupled with poor pasture utilisation and their influence on body condition scores, meant cows displayed fewer evident signs they were cycling and ready to be mated.

And it's not just down on the farm where the weather is playing havoc.

Hail and rain also caused the abandonment of the Dannevirke Bowling Club's first major tournament of the season on Sunday, with teams from Ashhurst, Pahiatua, Dannevirke and Woodville competing.

"We didn't even get the first game completed," club president Bruce Gibson said.

"The greens were covered in hail and holding water, so a meeting of the various club captains decided to abandon the day.

"They told us they didn't want us to ruin the greens so early in the season.

"Yesterday [Tuesday] we had a nice day, but it's back raining again today.

"It's awful."

September was also windy, with a national record wind gust of 154km/h at Akitio on September 25.

Along with the rain, wind and hail have come fluctuating temperatures.

Dannevirke had a September 15 record high of 22.5C, the second-highest temperature for September since records began in 1951.