Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Government declares drought in Northland and parts of Auckland

Northern Advocate
11 Feb, 2020 03:27 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor has declared a medium scale event or a drought in Northland and parts of Auckland. Photo/John Stone

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor has declared a medium scale event or a drought in Northland and parts of Auckland. Photo/John Stone

The Government has declared a drought in Northland and parts of Auckland after months of monitoring the situation.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor made the declaration this afternoon after receiving advice from the Rural Adverse Events Team this morning.

The declaration of a medium scale adverse weather event for the primary sector covers all areas north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The Government has allocated $80,000 as support in the form of tax relief, emergency grants, and loss of income through a number of agencies.

"This is recognition that the extreme and prolonged nature of this dry spell is taking its toll on our farmers and growers and additional support is needed," O'Connor said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We know they prepare for dry conditions in January and February, but these areas have been dry since November, on the back of much lower rainfall than normal through the whole of 2019. With little rain forecast for the next couple of weeks, things are getting tough.

"Across the country, there are local groups that meet regularly – made up of regional councils, industry groups, the Rural Support Trust and government agencies. They're a key source of advice for me and the Northland group's advice to date has been that the farmers and growers have been well prepared and coping pretty well. I let them know that if they were to ask for Government support – they would most definitely get it.

"They met again today and have said that the situation was now beyond the rural community's ability to cope and they have requested assistance," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

O'Connor said that despite the challenges, the majority of farmers and growers are coping "reasonably well".

"People are making the hard decisions needed on culling stock, purchasing feed, prioritising crops, and switching to once-a-day milking," he said.

"We know that farmers and growers are used to managing through adverse weather events, but I'd encourage them to make use of the great support available. Droughts can be really tough, especially on new farmers with little previous experience to lean on.

"I'm continuing to keep a close eye on other areas across the country as dry conditions increase in much of the North Island, the top of the South Island, and northern Canterbury."

Discover more

Algal bloom health hazard at Far North lake

20 Feb 08:00 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application

Northern Advocate

'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood

Northern Advocate

'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application
Northern Advocate

'Tipping point to extinction': Orca expert fears marina fast-track application

Dr Visser warns the marina could be the 'tipping point to extinction' for orca.

16 Jul 05:00 PM
'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood
Northern Advocate

'I didn’t have time to think': Well-known local rescues woman from rising flood

16 Jul 06:00 AM
'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court
Northern Advocate

'Frankly dangerous': Gang member's alleged reckless driving near police lands him in court

16 Jul 04:04 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP