The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Tararua farmers on slippery slope after relentless wet

By Christine McKay
Hawkes Bay Today·
19 Jul, 2017 11:30 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tararua Federated Farmers president Neil Filer says that after a tough spring and summer and wet autumn and winter, the last thing farmers need now is a wet spring.

Tararua Federated Farmers president Neil Filer says that after a tough spring and summer and wet autumn and winter, the last thing farmers need now is a wet spring.

Last week's storm which ripped through Tararua was terrible for farmers and stock throughout the region.

But as bad as it was, it could have been worse, Tararua Federated Farmers president Neil Filer told the Dannevirke News.

And with farmers in southern Tararua measuring rain in metres, not millimetres, Mr Filer agreed it was a similar situation in Dannevirke.

"Over the past 12 months it's been exceptionally bad," he said.

"We had a tough spring, a tough summer, wet autumn and winter and we could have a wet spring.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I hate to say it, but we would like a bit of wind to dry things out."

Pahiatua farmer Mike Burmeister has 960 dairy cows to calve and they will be home from grazing this week.

"It's been relentless and challenging all season because we only had 10 or 12 days in the summer when it was dry," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"This is one of the biggest floods I have seen. Flood waters from the Mangarama Stream surrounded houses at Makuri.

"The only good thing is we had the flooding last week, not when the cows were home."

Following heavy rain last week, Mr Burmeister was spending Tuesday in clean-up mode on his farm, which he said was better off than most.

"We're cleaning up the mess off the fences and working on a big hunk of concrete race which was washed away.

Discover more

Agribusiness report

Innovative the path to the future

19 Jul 05:00 PM
Agribusiness report

The coming dairy revolution

19 Jul 05:00 PM
Agribusiness report

A prime cut above the rest

19 Jul 05:00 PM
Agribusiness report

Blockchain the Transformer

19 Jul 05:00 PM

"But our dairy farm is looking good because we've had our stock grazing off.

"Anyone who had cows at home all winter will be under pressure and all those farming east of us were hit pretty hard."

The river at Tiraumea peaked close to the level it was during the 2004 flooding.

"Everyone is feeling it," Mr Burmeister said.

"Most businesses in our small Tararua towns are tied in some way to agriculture and they're feeling it too."

Mr Burmeister said the district needed six to eight weeks of sun to help grass recover.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"And much as we curse wind, we need it to dry out the top of paddocks," he said.

The weather has also played havoc with farm maintenance and applying fertiliser.

"It's been a nightmare trying to resurface our tracks," Mr Burmeister said.

"Everything has been hard work, but we've got to keep our chins up and be positive."

Farmers have told the Dannevirke News they are struggling to get their fertiliser on and with most bringing home dairy cows from grazing in the next week, they're concerned about protecting pasture.

"There's enough for one round (of feed), after that it's challenging because the ground just pugs up," one said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM
The Country

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
The Country

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM

The damaged skidder remains stuck in a hard-to-reach location near the river.

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

The great 'goat menace' of 1949

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

'Game-changer': Orchardist tackles seagull invasion with lasers

12 Jul 05:00 PM
'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

'Come home': Family vintage tractor returns to original owner

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP