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Smart farming eases the big dry
El Nino is technically past its peak, but the true impact of the weather pattern looks likely to play out over the next few months.
El Nino is technically past its peak, but the true impact of the weather pattern looks likely to play out over the next few months.
The current El Nino weather pattern will make its presence felt on the agriculture sector if it leads to drought, but it will not be enough to tip the country into recession.
Summer's El Nino weather pattern may be good news for barbecues and backyard cricket, but farmers and firefighters are preparing to battle drought and wildfires.
This year's El Nino weather pattern is shaping up to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, on record - bringing with it an elevated risk of drought.
Support for the drought-affected eastern South Island has been extended, and an extra $100,000 has been granted to help struggling farmers.
The controversial $275 million Ruataniwha water storage scheme in Hawkes Bay is a step closer after the High Court said no appeals had been lodged in the consent process.
People have embraced the taste of almond products. The question now is whether they can stomach higher costs.
Weather patterns suggest NZ could be in for another horror El Nino like that of 1997 and 1998, which resulted in a severe drought costing the country millions.
Farmers with rights to California water dating back more than a century face sharp cutbacks, the first reduction in their water use since 1977.
Drought conditions are biting into California's dairy production, which could end up being supportive for international dairy prices, say analysts.
Desalination projects are gaining resonance as drought-proof hydration solutions in parched California.
In LA, where residents use an average of 265 litres of water a day, an academic study found that the most affluent neighbourhoods used up to three times more than others.
It takes a gallon (3.785 litres) of water to produce an almond, and almond growers use about 10 per cent of California's water supply every year.
California is faced with a double whammy of high temperatures and low rainfall exacerbated by an atmospheric pattern that for three years straight has diverted winter storms away.
Cyclone Pam has come with a silver lining for many farmers, bringing much-needed rain to most parts of the North Island.
Growing global market opportunities and the need to strengthen supply chains are creating a thirst for capital among agricultural co-operatives around the world, rural lending specialist Rabobank said.
Drought in much of the country is helping to drive dairy prices higher, but farmgate prices for beef and sheepmeat are weakening.
The Government has no immediate plans to declare drought in areas of the country suffering from extremely dry conditions.
Taps ran dry in Martinborough last Friday after water reservoirs ran out and an alarm supposed to alert the council when supply is low, failed to go off.
This winter was not a good one for farmers in the Fertile Crescent.
Farmers in the Waikato and parts of Northland say they are battling one of the driest summers in memory.
Farmers living in areas that are increasingly becoming drought hot spots will have to prepare for drier times ahead, a climate scientist says.
Parts of the Waikato are as dry or drier than during last year's severe drought.
Australia continues to be the "burning, drying" continent, with a new report showing temperatures across the country are 1C warmer than they were a century ago.
This year's drought was one of New Zealand's most extreme and the worst in nearly 70 years, a study has revealed.