KEY POINTS:
The wet weather returned in February but in the rain stakes there are winners and losers.
MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said the rainfall in February was above normal in the North and around Canterbury, about normal elsewhere in the East but continued to be below normal from
Waikato to Marlborough and parts of Central Otago.
The La Nina weather pattern means rainfall in March will be normal or a bit on the wet side for the top third of the North Island, about normal for eastern South Island, normal to below normal for the eastern North Island and the west of the South Island, with a 50 per cent chance it will stay below normal in Nelson, Marlborough and between Waikato and Kapiti.
"[They] don't get rain until they get [significant] westerlies and the westerlies won't be arriving until about after April," McDavitt says. "It'll be winter then, too cold, won't grow much grass at all, so they're going to miss out on the autumn flush."
The weather was typical of La Nina, which comes around about every three years and is unlikely to ease its grip on the country until after April.
"But there will be some troughs coming in from the north so keep an eye on those, see where they go, because they might bring some intense rain which will change the pattern," McDavitt says.
There are three basic weather patterns which are determined by sea temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean.
Above normal ocean temperatures lead to El Nino weather, below normal to La Nina and about normal to neutral weather.
When it comes to which weather pattern is best it depends on where you are and what you want to do.
"La Nina is perfect for dairying in Northland, it's not so good for having a holiday in Northland," McDavitt says. "It's great for holiday making in Waitomo and Nelson [but] not so good for dairying in those places."
Niwa climate scientist Jim Salinger says there is still the odd spot of severe soil moisture deficit around Hamilton and in the Wairarapa, with significant deficits in areas including the Hauraki Plains, throughout Waikato and into King Country, south Taranaki and Wanganui.
"No problems in Canterbury or down south any more, it's more a North Island thing," Salinger says.
The current soil moisture deficit in Waikato - where a drought zone was declared last month after its driest January in more than 100 years - is actually better than this time last year but the problem has been the duration of dryness.
Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen says that overall the country is through the worst.
"I guess most significantly many parts of the Wairarapa had 30mm of rain over the [previous] weekend and that has started the end of the drought really," Pedersen says.
"The situation continues to improve and continues to give us confidence that we're going to come out of this situation just fine."
As the days get shorter and cooler the rain that does fall will have a greater effect, while rye grass which basically shuts down when soil temperatures top 20 degrees is now better placed to make use of the welcome drink.
However, the situation is still tough in the Waikato, where drought-busting rain has not fallen. There is a significant risk with regards to every farm being able to feed their animals through to spring - a situation which gets worse as the country heads towards winter with less opportunity for growing grass, Pedersen says.
"But of course as some provinces improve it actually starts to create some extra feed that may be available if people are still caught out."
Pedersen is pleased with how farmers and authorities have handled the situation, with MAF surveillance giving confidence that no regions have fallen through a crack.
Farmers had done the right thing by getting stock off the farms and not trying to hold on to animals "thinking about the main thing and that is to be able to get through the winter and get good stock health and performance next season."
HOT POTATO
The potato is a legend of the dinner plate. It can be baked, roasted, mashed, stewed, chipped, fried, cubed, used as a topping, side dish or a main meal, big or small, hot or cold and with a multitude of varieties to choose from.
[Story disclosure: reporter quite likes his potatoes.]
However, the one thing that's proving trickier in this the International Year of the Potato is growing the tasty tubers.
The cold spring and dry summer has been a challenge to growers with harvest yields much lighter than expected.
Horticulture New Zealand Potato Product Group chairman Terry Olsen says those still in the ground are likely to be about the same.
"Generally we are looking at a real challenge over the next few months to meet demand from customers, both in retail and processing."
However, Olsen says growers have invested in the supply chain management and at this stage he feels there will not be any shortage.
"Now we will see how good that investment is in terms of we believe we can rise to the challenge."
So no need to hoard potatoes.
CABBAGE AND CANCER
Is that the trench warfare smell of cabbage gently wafting its way through the room? No it's science at work.
Well that's true either way you look at it, except that an international research team led by AgResearch has discovered that an extract of broccoli sprouts can cut the incidence of bladder cancer by more than half on an animal model.
The team led by senior scientist Rex Munday includes researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins University in the US, plus Massey University and Crop & Food Research in New Zealand.
More than 300,000 people each year are diagnosed with bladder cancer, which is the fourth most common variety in men and eighth in women.
A study undertaken earlier by the researchers with support from the Waikato Medical Research Foundation showed that rats fed with cabbage family vegetables - including broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and watercress - had an increased amount of tissue enzymes that protected against cancer-causing chemicals.
"The greatest effect was seen in the bladder, suggesting that such vegetables would protect against bladder cancer," Munday says.
The new research has backed up the view of bladder protection.
"This result is consistent with epidemiological studies showing that people who have a high dietary intake of plants of the cabbage family are less likely to develop bladder cancer than those who eat only small amounts of these vegetables,"
The international team is now progressing to other vegetables in its search for better materials to prevent bladder cancer.
Oh well cabbage, sprouts, broccoli and a packet of nose-clips please.
Why is it never chocolate and chips?
SCOTTISH LINK UP
AgResearch is also teaming up with world leading Scotland-based Moredun Research Institute to boost ruminant productivity and welfare standards.
AgResearch chief executive Andrew West says livestock such as sheep and cattle are farmed in both countries.
"By sharing knowledge, we can create better technologies for farmers," West says. "Some of our scientists have previously collaborated on an ad-hoc basis and all are aware of the potential for greater synergy between our research programmes."
A heads of agreement has been signed at the Hopkirk Research Institute in Palmerston North with Moredun, which for more than half a century has been known for its work on infectious diseases.
"The agreement formalises such a relationship and lays the foundation for a set of linked projects that will lead to superior results," West says.
Hopkirk director Wayne Hein says both countries face similar diseases.
"Research teams in both countries focus on gastrointestinal nematodes, Johnes disease, pneumonia and mastitis," Hein says.
"We are aiming to get a better alignment between on-going research programmes so that each party can benefit from the outputs."
GO GO AVOCADO
Premium oil producer Grove Avocado has hit a new production record for its cold-pressed extra virgin avocado oil, with 90,000 litres in February - more than three times the normal monthly volume.
Marketing manager Matt Carlson says the avocado crop is roughly double last year, which was relatively small.
The crop can fluctuate dramatically, depending on factors including climate, with New Zealand considered to be on the margin for being able to commercially farm avocados.
Bay of Plenty-based Grove Avocado was the leading brand in New Zealand and Australia, and had about 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the global market for the niche premium oil, Carlson says.
Export markets include Europe, Mexico, Korea and Japan and the company has only just scratched the surface, he says.
"Our biggest challenge is the fact that avocado oil is a very new product and relatively unknown to most of the population."
And at a cost of four times that of olive oil it also comes with a premium price tag.
"It's very much an exercise of having to educate consumers and customers about the benefits of avocado oil," Carlson says.
Meanwhile, the lack of moisture during the hot and dry summer has seen trees dropping the fruit that would have gone on to be part of next season's crop, which is harvested from September to March.
Just how much the summer weather has affected next season is too early to say.
