Stock are getting stuck in muddy dams in the quest for water in Central Hawke's Bay. Photo / Facebook
Stock are getting stuck in muddy dams in the quest for water in Central Hawke's Bay. Photo / Facebook
Farming leaders in Hawke's Bay are going to the Government for drought relief as the big dry takes an even greater grip on the region.
The decision came on Tuesday at a Drought Committee meeting chaired by Hawke's Bay Regional councillor and immediate past Federated Farmers provincial president Will Foley.
The meeting of the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, Federated Farmers, Civil Defence, the Rural Support Trust and other agencies is recommending to the Government that the region declare a medium-scale event under the Government's Primary Sector Recovery Policy, to trigger welfare support and resources to adversely affected farmers and landowners.
The meeting was told most areas of Hawke's Bay last month received less than 10 per cent of usual February rainfall, after three months of below average rainfall, and that temperatures were on average 3 degrees Celsius hotter than the previously recorded February range.
The vast browning of the region, particularly from the Napier and Hastings area through to Wairarapa, is obvious and had already led to a medium-scale adverse event declaration in the Tararua District.
It highlights now severe difficulties in feeding and watering stock, with some farmers facing the heartbreaking sight of stock dying in muddy dam beds as they search desperately for the sustenance to survive.
Farmers have had to stride into the mud to rescue animals, but while some have been freed many have perished.
A dried-up Ongaonga Stream. Photo / Warren Buckland
Omakere farmer John Kerr said he had lost about 10 which had been stranded, while he also faced not being able to be send stock to the meatworks because of their deteriorating condition.
"I've got rid of what I can," he said, but he said others had lost weight, and then were those caught in the dams.
"It's a cruel death," he said. "We do our best, but we can't get to them all. It happens when they go looking for water."
A Facebook photo shows a similar rescue taking place on a nearby property.
Foley said: "It's getting dire south of Hastings and in Central Hawke's Bay and has been heading in that direction for some time. We also have issues other than climate playing out at the moment, such as beef and deer Tuberculosis movement controls and Coronavirus.
"We want farmers to know that they have our support and willingness to help," he said. "I also want to note that if people have ready access to water, they should be conscious and sensitive to the fact that other people do not."
Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker said: "We need to see this level of support from the Government now. I'm seeing people where normal access to water is just not there. They don't have access to water from a tap. They can't get water to their stock and there's a level of need that is not being met.
"We want to support farmers that have a need and help them to make decisions into next season and beyond," she said.
Current provincial Federated Farmers president Jim Galloway said: "This drought isn't just a three-week problem. Ewes are light, lambing percentages will be down, store prices are down, so there will be difficulty managing costs.
"It will have a real knock-on effect," he said, "that even if there was rain soon some could still be feeling impacts of the drought into next year."
South of Hastings, farmers have needed to move stock off land and dip into winter feed.
Central Hawke's Bay is adversely affected. The Ruataniwha Plains and many rivers and streams in the south of the region are under long-term water take bans from below the Ruahine Ranges and extending out to southern coastal properties.
Consented water use across the region has been closely monitored by the regional council and shows very high levels of compliance from the rural community.
While fine weather is forecast over the next day, some showers, particularly coastal, are possible later in the week and long-range forecasts offer hope of rain next week.
