Dump of rain brings short-term relief for struggling farmers in Hawke's Bay

Amid brown paddocks across Hawke's Bay, a rain dump on Tuesday brought back a slight tinge of green. Photo / Paul Taylor

Farmers rejoiced, a little bit at least, as some much-needed rain finally fell on a parched Hawke's Bay region on Tuesday.

MetService meteorologist Rob Kerr said a strong low-pressure system making its way over the country hit Hawke's Bay on Monday night and into Tuesday, bringing wintry temperatures and plenty of rain.

Over a period of a couple of hours between 11am and 1pm on Tuesday most of the region saw heavy rain, with 10-12mm recorded.

This was accompanied by bitingly cold temperatures for this time of year.

"At our sites around the region it all seems relatively even, showing temperatures at 9am around 20 degrees Celsius but by midday they dropped to around 11C," Kerr said.

"It would be a bit of a welcome relief to some of the farmers in the region, but a bit of a miserable start for some of the kids going on their summer break."

Federated Farmers Hawke's Bay president Jim Galloway said the rain had been a helping hand for some farmers.

The dry conditions had caused issues for stock farmers and processing supply issues for Silver Fern Farms.

"Because it has been so dry it means that the pasture that is growing isn't the best quality which is what lambs need, so many farmers have to process their stock earlier, but Silver Fern Farms have had to turn farmers away because they are too busy," he said.

"But this rain will hopefully bring a bit of relief for those farmers and the processing plants."

Silver Fern Farms supply chain general manager Dan Boulton said its plants had been suffering a bit of a backlog but it is something they deal with a lot at this time of year.

"It is usual for processing plants to have backlogs in the two weeks just prior to Christmas," Boulton said.

"It was accentuated in the current season as slower lamb production early on in the spring delayed supply, which has added to the backlog we are currently experiencing.

"But we have deployed normal overtime options to assist servicing farmers as much as we are able. The current level of backlog is not unusual."

The rain relief isn't expected to last for long. MetService's Kerr says over the coming days, as the low pressure system moves on, it will be back to sunny skies and hot days.

"It all turns around quite quickly - nothing but sunny skies with a couple of cloud patches - but the heat will be back with temperatures rising back up to 25-27C."

Despite the rain, Hastings will now join neighbours Napier and Central Hawke's Bay in implementing water restrictions.

The restrictions mean residents on council supplied water can only use hoses and sprinklers from 6am-8am and 7pm-9pm, odd number houses on odd days, and even houses on even days.

Council will also review its watering programme for public spaces, excluding those which have their own bore, such as the Hawke's Bay Racecourse and the A&P Showgrounds.