Ministers Damien O'Connor and Meka Whaitiri visit drought-hit Southland farms

Irrigation bans will stay in place for most parts of Southland as the man in charge of agriculture got a first-hand look at the dry paddocks yesterday.

Though Southland has received some rain over the past few days, the area is still dry which Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor and Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri saw yesterday.

They visited three farms in Southland, and spoke to various groups about the drought. A medium adverse drought event was announced by O'Connor last week.

O'Connor said the purpose of his visit was to get some information from those on the ground.

He was aware of the challenges everyone in the region was facing.

It was important farmers did not feel isolated, and ultimately it was about people.

"It's an unusual time for Southland to face a drought.

"It's one of the things that has been predicted with climate change, that you'll have these unusual droughts at unusual times.

Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor (left) and Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri listen to Edendale dairy farmer Jon Pemberton yesterday. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

"It takes a long time for farmers to adjust to those patterns and this is one of those pinch points," he said.

"We just need to get feedback as to what people think are the best ways to provide funding for the rural support trusts to get out and co-ordinate and provide information for us."

He said the Government was prepared to provide assistance in ways that were yet to be decided upon, but that it was looking at co-ordinating with and providing more funding for rural support trusts.

"They [farmers] know there's no immediate solution ... everyone's facing similar challenges but they have different ways through it, and so not allowing one farmer or their workers to be isolated is really important."

The ministers visited dairy farmer Jon Pemberton's property in Edendale.

Pemberton said it was a complex situation and one that the farmers maybe just had to work through.

"Every time there's an announcement that comes out with [financial support], that isn't portrayed as to support the vulnerable, that is portrayed as 'here's a cash handout to the rural sector,' which is not the case, and it doesn't do the rural-urban relations any favours," he said.

After further review yesterday, Environment Southland has decided to keep its water shortage direction in place, which cuts back much of the irrigation, until at least Monday.