He said the dry summer had led to a number of farmers milking once a day with a few herds already drying off. His own production was down 27 per cent in the month to date and 7 per cent down on the year.
"We've also got to be proactive now with eczema, we've had no spore counts but the rain might get them going."
A call for sensible water use and the subsequent rain has led to demand easing on Rotorua District Council's water supply.
Council utilities operations manager Eric Cawte said demand had reached 33,000cu m of water but after an appeal on Friday to be more restrained there had been a noticeable drop.
"We appreciate the notice that people have taken and consumption has eased off," Mr Cawte said.
"With this rain we expect demand to drop right back but it looks like we're getting another stretch of hot weather."
"Water use has been discussed in council that we need to do our bit and lead by example."
He said the city had not had to impose water restrictions in the past but that was because warnings had been effective.