Financial implications of North's drought remain

Who better to tell us what the weather will be on Christmas Day than Bob McDavitt, MetService weather ambassador and the man who looks more like Father Christmas than Father Christmas?
The rotund, white-bearded weather man brings tidings of moderate joy - more rain before Christmas but fine on Christmas day.
A northerly front is expected to return today, delivering substantial rain "in bursts", and a heavy rain warning was being issued. Areas south of the central North Island would be worst affected.
The good news for steaming Northland was that the front would swing from westerly to south-westerly around Friday which should banish or lessen humidity on Christmas Day.
Weatherman McDavitt said the rain that fell on Northland over the weekend had been delivered by a trough with two bands of rain within it. A warm front had brought winds and rain; then a cold front had followed with more patchy rain which "fell in bursts" on Sunday. He said more was needed for pasture to recover from the drought conditions. "It's useful for the cows that remain but a lot aren't there any more".
Julie Jonker, co-ordinator for the Adverse Events Committee (these are convened by the Rural Support Trusts in crisis situations in the rural sector) agreed. The rain was very welcome and would take the edge off the drought but the grass would not actually recover for about three weeks. The long dry spell meant that there had not been enough growth for baling.
"Supplementary feed is almost non-existent and we have been told there will be no shipments of palm kernel until the end of January.
"The rain was great but the financial implications of the drought remain the same and the RST's Adverse Events Committee is very much open for business."
The committee had taken on five agricultural facilitators who were fanning out around the region offering one-to-one advice to farmers on strategies for coping with the flow-on effects of the drought, and where assistance was available.
"There are no direct hand-outs as such, but there is certainly help available through the committee for farmers who are struggling and really in trouble," she said.
The committee held a meeting of rural professionals in Dargaville last night and a meeting at 11am this morning for farmers and growers at the Dargaville Town Hall today.
MetService rainfall figures around Northland for the three days from 3pm Friday until 2pm yesterday were: Cape Reinga 14mm; Kaitaia 34.2mm; Purerua, 39.6mm; Kerikeri 16.6mm; Kerikeri town 16.6mm; Kerikeri airport 72.4mm; Kaikohe 68.4mm; Hokianga, west of the harbour, 26.2; Whangarei airport 61.2mm; Marsden Pt, at the refinery, 110.6mm; Dargaville 138.6.
Northland Regional Council figures show that some of the heaviest rain fell in Awaroa at Ruawai (average December rainfall 80mm; as of yesterday, the area had had 170mm); Mangawhai (106mm/211mm); Paparoa (90mm/109mm); Marsden Pt (82mm/148mm); Ngunguru (103mm/241mm); Hikurangi (82mm/131mm); Dargaville (80mm/175mm).