By Adam Burns and Nate McKinnon of RNZ.
In the first article of a two-part series, RNZ reporter Adam Burns and visual journalist Nate McKinnon meet with farmers and community leaders in North Canterbury to talk about the ongoing drought, tough economic conditions and how the locals have been supporting each other during the period.
“A perfect storm.”
That is how North Canterbury farmers have described the plight facing property owners in the drought-stricken Hurunui district, where feed supply has been sapped bare.
As the spring season arrives, local producers are imploring the weather gods for some rainy respite.
A forest fire north of Waipara that has been burning since last Thursday further underlines that need, as firefighters grapple with dry and windy conditions.
The situation facing the local rural sector worsened when the all-important rainfall failed to arrive during autumn and then again in winter.
A “medium-scale adverse event” was declared in March by Agriculture Minister Todd McClay for Canterbury and Otago, a week after it was declared for the top of the South Island.
Further funding support was unveiled last month when Minister for Rural Communities Mark Patterson visited the Hurunui district, where he encountered unusually browned pastures for winter.
Until only recently, the district had fluctuated between “dry” and “extremely dry” since January, according to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research’s (Niwa) drought monitor.
Fourth-generation beef and sheep farmer Andy Fox has been farming in Scargill for nearly 30 years.
His family has owned the 1400ha property west of Greta Valley since 1877.
Only 220 millimetres of rain had fallen on his property between December 2023 and August 2024.
Fox said three times this amount typically falls during an average 12-month period.
“My wettest year ever, we’re under a quarter of that,” he said.
Although dry conditions in the Hurunui are far from a novelty during the warmer months, a prolonged period into autumn and winter has left local dryland farmers on the back foot.
Fox said an adverse dry typically hit the region once every decade.
“My first year of farming here in 1988 we had a dry.
“We have no irrigation, so the water we rely on is what falls,” he said.
Seasoned farmers encountered tough settings within the last decade when the north Canterbury region was hit by an extended drought between 2014-2016.
And while farmers had learned to adapt around production, feed management and grazing during a dry, Fox said other factors had caused further woe.
Higher interest rates and product pricing had aggravated the agricultural pressure cooker.
“The ewes that have produced for me for five or six years... they’re worth under half of what they were last year,” he said.
“At the moment, we have a perfect storm.”
With money tight for farmers, the situation was sending ripples into the wider district for rural servicing businesses and contractors.
“Farmlands and vets are noticing that farmers are starting to slow their spending, or stopping,” Fox said.
Of the recent funding support confirmed by the Government, $20,000 had been allocated for the Farmers Adverse Events Trust.
New Zealand Veterinary Association and animal health company Boehringer Ingelheim also contributed an additional $18,000 to deliver specialist veterinary support to Hurunui farmers.
Further inland, Hawarden beef and sheep farmer Dan Hodgen was facing similar multi-faceted obstacles.
As head of the Hurunui Adverse Events Committee, Hodgen had extensive insight into what the locals were enduring.
“We’ve had drier years, but interest rates were lower, costs were lower, lamb costs were pretty handy, so it was a lot easier to handle.
“That just wears you down and makes the normal solutions a lot less palatable or even viable.”
Ballooning transport costs for farmers threw another spanner in the works.
Hodgen said the cost in 2015 for sending his hoggets to Southland was about $1300.
“That same truck now would be three times that price,” he said.
“In fact, I can’t bring feed from Ashburton for that price... the money doesn’t go as far as it used to.”
With the sector’s bread and butter not always dependable, Hodgen said farmers had considered stopgap sources of income.
Although not a fan of the move personally, he said farmers were exploring the tourism market by setting up tiny homes and cabins.
Fox and his wife have opened an accommodation hut on the back of the property.
He admits he wouldn’t recommend such a move when income and profitability are down.
Despite farmer’s resilience and experience in dealing with a drought, community leaders remain concerned.
Hurunui District Mayor Marie Black said farmers had become adept at dealing with the stumbling blocks synonymous with farming operations in north Canterbury.
“Farmers are so good at reading the weather patterns, they know when a pinch is coming,” she said.
“They try to proactively mitigate that as best as they can.
“But sometimes it is completely out of their control. If the rain doesn’t come, it puts a real pressure point on”
Black said the camaraderie among the community was invaluable during a trying period.
“We’ve been working really hard to try to help get people get together, to share stories across the fence with their neighbours,” she said.
“Looking after the welfare aspect of our community has been a game-changer.
“It doesn’t take away the pressure, it doesn’t take away the dry or the critical feed shortage.
“But sharing that story is really helpful for a lot of people.”
- RNZ