Agriculture contractors in the Bay of Plenty say about 60 per cent of maize crops have been wiped out due to wet weather and it’s the region’s worst harvest in decades.
Kiwifruit growers are also reeling due to flooding and some orchards have been severely damaged in the lead-up to the main harvest, which starts next month.
Farmers told NZME they “don’t want any more rain” and were concerned about slips on their land alongside other issues, including dairy cow fertility rates, shearing, and falling meat prices for beef and lamb.
It comes as forecasters are warning a tropical cyclone on track to hit New Zealand could unleash a month’s worth of rain in days.
Litchfields Agriculture Services co-owner William Litchfield said he had been involved with maize for more than 40 years and “it’s the worst we have ever had it”.
“It’s been a tricky season. Some crops are growing, some are terrible, and some haven’t even got in the ground. We just don’t know where we’ll be at the end of it.
“The higher ground that was planted early has done okay, but the low-laying areas have suffered.”
He said more rain or a tropical cyclone could hinder crops further, but there was nothing to be done about it.
“It’s too late to do anything - the whole season is gone.”
Litchfields Agriculture Services had about 526 hectares of maize on its books, and the yields had dropped significantly and could be down by 60 per cent, he said.
Tammy Marsh from Marsh Contracting said the business had been operating for 36 years and agreed it was the worst maize season it had seen.
“It’s definitely setting a new record for trying times. A lot of maize hasn’t even been planted because the ground is so wet they can’t get onto it.
“Or, they have planted it and they’ve lost it, then replanted it and lost it again, or only patches are coming through.”
She said it was a stressful time for some farmers having to work with the weather patterns to try to get supplements off.
“As much as the grass is growing, the nutritional value of it has decreased because the ground is so waterlogged and fertiliser is getting washed away.”
Marsh Contracting was responsible for about 300 - 400ha of maize in the Bay.
Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty president Brent Mountford said farmers did not need another big dump of rain anywhere.
“Everything is so saturated. There are still farmers waiting to get their sheep shorn, and that brings flies into play. We are in the hills, so tracks have washed out and you have to be really careful riding around on them.”
He understood lambs were only yielding 41 per cent at the freezing works, compared to more than 45 per cent last year.
“While lambs need grass to grow, they also need sunshine. So there are challenges, and in the beef and sheep sector, our schedules are down and our costs are up.”
Mountford estimated lamb was down $1.50 compared to last year, while beef had dropped by about 50 cents a kilogram.
He had cut two paddocks of hay and was waiting on contractors to cut another four for silage amid concerns it could start to rot.
Federated Farmers Rotorua-Taupō president Colin Guyton said a lot of maize had been wiped out or had failed.
“That will be detrimental to our region as we usually import a lot of maize from other parts of the Bay of Plenty, so it’s a downside.”
Guyton said mating rates for cows could also be lower, because a lot of rain and not much sunshine tended to affect fertility.
Mating happened last year and he was about to test his herd for in-calf rates.
“A cow that is in calf is worth twice as much as a cow that’s empty, so it’s huge.”
More cows could be culled, although some farmers may opt to carry over some of their younger stock.
The rain had been challenging, but “it feels better than being in an actual scorching drought”.
“I feel happy that I’ve got plenty of grass to feed my cows, rather than trying to work out how to buy in feed like the last three years. It’s been a funny season, and our income is completely, 100 per cent directly related to weather.
“If we have good, favourable weather, life is a lot better and we do better production for lower costs, and we need that because costs are really high at the moment.”
Trevelyan Pack & Cool managing director James Trevelyan said one of its growers in Te Puke lost about half a hectare of gold kiwifruit.
“It’s just gone under a thick layer of mud. Another one is underwater, and there will have to be testing done to see whether it is lost.”
Trevelyan said kiwifruit needed sunshine on the canes to set the winter buds and help set good, dry matter.
“The better years of higher quality have been based around sunshine hours ... kiwifruit don’t enjoy wet feet for too long.”
New Zealand Kiwifruit Growers Inc chief executive Colin Bond said the organisation was aware some kiwifruit growers had been affected by the rain and flooding. However, the industry would not know the full extent of the impact of the adverse weather until the flood waters dissipated.
“Roots of kiwifruit vines that are flooded underwater for extended periods of time suffer from oxygen starvation, which can ultimately kill the vines.
“Some sections of kiwifruit orchards have been severely damaged by the recent rain and flooding. While our thoughts are with those growers who have been severely impacted by the recent rain and associated flooding which has affected a small number of orchards across New Zealand, at this time, it is thought not to have a very large impact on the total national crop volume.”
Zespri chief grower, industry and sustainability officer Carol Ward said its initial crop estimate in December 2022 indicated fruit volumes would be down 10 per cent on last year.
“It’s too early to understand the full impact of the recent floods, although it is believed to be more localised damage, which is not expected to have a material impact on the season’s crop volume. Some growers will have experienced significant damage, which is incredibly tough given how challenging the last season has been.”
The poorer fruit quality throughout the 2022 season had also been addressed with a 7-Point Quality Action Plan.
The Government was also providing an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island, including the Bay of Plenty.
Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni said $500,000 was being made available to provide unskilled and semi-skilled jobs for local people who would support farmers, growers, and communities by completing clean-up work on their properties.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said $200,000 would be allocated to rural support trusts who know their communities and what support was required to help people through.
MetService meteorologist April Clark said the earliest a tropical cyclone could develop was Sunday, and it could affect the upper North Island and possibly the Bay of Plenty.
She said exactly how severe the impacts would be in terms of strong easterlies and heavy rain was something to keep an eye on later in the week.
That market has still only returned to around 60% of pre-Covid levels.