Fergus Farm has been part of the Waihi Beach landscape since 1946.
But the weather conditions in June definitely tested the patience of Brian Fergus who had to face three flooding scenarios just before he started this milking season.
Brian's father Neil purchased the family farm in 1946 and even he has not seen such bad erosion on the hill country since cyclone Bola.
The farm - nearly 300ha - milking 640 cows, has two quite distinct areas. It starts in steep hill country from Mathers property down to the flatlands just behind the residential area of Waihi Beach, so there is a huge catchment area and it all drains down through the flats and out Three Mile Creek. Neighbouring the Fergus Farm is the Western Bay of Plenty District Council sewage treatment plant and wetlands and a council-owned dairy farm.
Brian Fergus has concerns about the comments made at Waihi Beach Community Board meetings about pollution in Three Mile Creek coming from farmland beyond the Treatment Plant.