A cold, wet winter and a flood that silted pasture have limited the amount of feed available to lifestyle farmers as well as to larger landowners, Ruapehu/Whanganui Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Lyn Neeson says.
With lambing and calving happening, she's hoping people with lifestyle blocks will plan well ahead to keep their animals fed.
She has been getting calls, especially from lifestyle farmers, looking for alternative feed.
"It's great that farmers have realised they may not be able to rely on pasture to keep condition on their stock, even though this may have worked in the past," she said.
Many smaller farms don't have the equipment to feed out the large bales that may be available, and may not have the finances to purchase supplementary feed. And it's hard for animal owners to watch their stock lose condition, and frustrating waiting for grass that won't grow because the ground temperature is still low.
Faced with all that, she said it would be most cost-effective and least stressful for some farmers to sell animals that cannot be fed. "Luckily prices for all classes of stock have maintained."
There were several advantages to selling stock now. One was no longer having to worry about feed until the grass started growing again. Losing that worry could enable farmers to concentrate on repairing damage caused by the winter's heavy rain.
People who sold stock now could look to build numbers up again in spring, when they would flourish on the saved feed.
Animal owners have a legal obligation to look after their stock, under the Animal Welfare Act.
Anyone who wants more advice can contact Mrs Neeson on 027 353 7907, or consult their vet.