Silage gift to help flood-hit farmers

Bales of silage ready to be transported to Taranaki. Photo / Supplied

Farmers in the Far North have donated bales of silage to their Taranaki counterparts affected by recent floods and slips.

A truckload of 41 bales left Kaikohe last week and farmers said while their donation might not mean much, they hoped the feed would help boost the morale of those hit by the natural disaster.

The extreme flooding in June left the Whanganui, Taranaki, Manawatu and Rangitikei regions with a medium-scale adverse event, and a clean-up bill estimated to be more than $120 million.

Landslips continue to block access on Taranaki and Whanganui farms, and some farmers have not seen their stock in weeks.

Kaikohe beef farmer John Coleman donated four bales and said having farmed in King Country before moving to Northland in 1996, he knew the difficulties experienced by Taranaki farmers after a severe weather event.

"One bale may not mean much to feed livestock down there but it will help to boost their morale," he said.

"What we did just means other farmers who are in a better situation care."

Farmers from Kaitaia to Kawakawa responded to an appeal for help from the Taranaki Rural Support Trust, which helped co-ordinate the collection and distribution of bales of silage. The bales were loaded on a truck and trailer unit that brought urea from New Plymouth to the Ballance depot in Kaikohe on Tuesday.

Taranaki farmers donated silage to dairy farmers in Hikurangi during the seven floods in Northland in July last year.

Mr Coleman said about 20 years ago, farmers in the Far North donated about $4000 towards the Canterbury drought appeal.

Northland Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Julie Jonker said the gesture by farmers in the Far North would help those affected in Taranaki.