KEY POINTS:
Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton will next week visit farmers hit by drought on the east coast of the North Island.
Sheep and beef farms in the Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa regions have received less than half the normal rainfall this year.
Mr Anderton said many farmers had carried extra stock through late summer and autumn, hoping the meat schedule and store lamb prices would improve and that autumn rains would allow the stock to gain weight.
But those rains had not arrived and, despite mild temperatures, a shortage of feed had caused stock to deteriorate.
If the rain stayed away there would be a shortage of feed when the winter arrived.
In some areas, there were already shortages of supplementary feed and water, Mr Anderton said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was putting $20,000 from its adverse events contingency fund towards meetings to provide expert advice for farmers in Gisborne and Wairarapa in association with Meat and Wool NZ. Meat and Wool and local sponsors were also paying for meetings in Hawkes Bay.
MAF was discussing with farm leaders setting up a grazing register so feed from other areas could be made available to farmers in affected regions, Mr Anderton said.
Inland Revenue would allow farmers to extend the deadline to deposit funds from the sale of capital stock in "income equalisation accounts" on more favourable terms without incurring additional income tax liabilities.
Mr Anderton said MAF and the Ministry of Social Development would discuss welfare provisions as winter descended.
Further resources would be considered as more information about farmers' needs became apparent.
- NZPA
