South Auckland barrister Catriona MacLennan writes that farmers always say the spring snowfall was unforeseen, yet it has happened every year for the past decade.
Another spring, and yet more pictures of frozen lambs. The end of winter used to be synonymous with daffodils and photos of lambs gambolling in green pastures.
But in New Zealand the image has now become that of mountains of tiny, dead lamb corpses, their sad, short lives over before
they have even begun.
Southland farmers are calling the snow the worst spring storm in living memory.
However, I now have a folder of newspaper clippings going back 10 years.
Each media story recounts the tale of spring snowfall and is accompanied by pictures of dead lambs tossed together like weeds to form tall piles.
Each story is accompanied by quotes from farmers calling the snow "unexpected," a "surprise" and "unforeseen."
In 2004, for example, more than 500,000 new-born lambs froze to death in spring snows.
Around Balfour, Riversdale and Kaiwera in Southland, approximately half of the lambs born died.
Meat and Wool New Zealand's economic service estimated that farmers lost $7 million over one late September 2004 weekend alone, when 100,000 lambs froze to death.
The deaths of a further 400,000 lambs as a result of them not being protected from the snow brought the lost income to $35 million.
In 2006, 20,000 lambs froze to death in Southland.
We should take action to prevent this, because it is cruel to let young animals freeze to death. It is also bad economics for farmers.
Farmers are paid $1 for the pelt of each dead, new-born lamb. However, live lambs fetch $90 each.
So what can be done to protect lambs ? The most obvious solution would be not to impregnate the ewes until later.
Lambing happens every year in early spring when, like clockwork, snow storms also occur every year. If lambing was delayed, it would not coincide with harsh weather conditions.
More shelter belts would provide protection for the animals from the wind, which is often the key cause of death. Windchill rapidly lowers the animals' body temperatures, resulting in them freezing to death in a short time.
Trees would also offer protection to animals in summer heat.
In Europe, animals are protected from snow by being sheltered in barns.
Surely, on economic grounds alone, it would be worth weighing up the cost of providing temporary shelter against the repeated loss of millions of dollars' worth of dead lambs ?
Lambs in danger of succumbing to the cold can be fed a cheap, energy-boosting glucose solution. A 20 per cent strength injection of dextrose glucose helps to protect the animals when they rapidly lose body heat and are in danger of hypothermia. The injection was developed in Scotland more than a decade ago, and Clutha vet John Smart started using it in the spring of 2002, when hundreds of thousands of lambs also froze to death.
Additional protection can be provided by lamb covers, which are available both in plastic and in wool.
Southland farmer Jim Ryan invented plastic covers in the 1970s and now exports them internationally.
A Canterbury farmer, David Brown, developed wool covers for lambs in 1993. Around 1,000,000 wool covers are now produced each year.
The covers can be fitted in 30 seconds and are 90 per cent effective in protecting young lambs.
Wool covers in 2004 cost $3 each and plastic covers $18.
A Wrightson Invercargill rural supplies manager in September 2004 was quoted as saying that sales of covers were up because of the bad weather, but not by much.
He said that he was surprised that more were not being purchased.
Farmers worried about the cost of the coats can improvise - one Southland farmer used chicken bags to protect his lambs.
Farmers criticise "townies" for not understanding the harsh realities of rural life. In 2004, then-Southland Federated Farmers president (and current national president) Don Nicolson said that I needed a "reality check" when I called for action to prevent the yearly tally of lamb deaths.
He said that farmers did everything humanly possible all year round to keep their livestock healthy and that bad weather could not be consistently planned for.
However, the problem for farmers is that townies - both in New Zealand and overseas - are their markets and the source of their livelihoods.
Consumers are increasingly sensitive to animal welfare issues and farmers only need to read Letters to the Editor and online comments to see that consumers do not want to keep seeing pictures of frozen dead lambs year after year.
It's time to do something about it.
