Conditions set North Canterbury farmers 'back a wee bit'

Federated Farmers meat and wool chairman Daniel Maxwell. Photo / File

Late seasonal conditions are creating a few headaches for North Canterbury farmers.

Federated Farmers North Canterbury president and Oxford dairy farmer Cameron Henderson said while January's dry and mild conditions were "nothing out of the ordinary", this season's weather had produced mixed results.

"There is a concern that all of our seasons seem to be later this year. We had a late winter into August and it feels a bit like spring at the moment.

"October was a bit cold and then December was windy, hot and dry, which set us back a wee bit.

"There was plenty of water in the river, but we couldn't use it. It certainly caught a few people off guard".

Production was tracking reasonably well compared with last season, though "the bumps are hitting us at different times of the year".

"These conditions are pretty good as long as you've got water on hand. Feed quality seems to be holding up pretty well.

"The cows are in good condition, there's plenty of feed on hand and it's not too hot on the cows. A lot of the guys were feeding out in December for a week, but now we're back into surplus".

Fonterra's forecast farm-gate milk price was also looking stable, which was good news for dairy farmers.

Federated Farmers meat and wool chairman Daniel Maxwell, of Cheviot, said there was plenty to be positive about in the meat industry.

"The markets have been really good. Prices have come back a bit now as they always do, but the mood is still generally very positive".

Prices for prime lambs and store lambs were positive before Christmas, but now it was a matter of waiting for "the cropping guys to do their harvest" before selling off the remaining store lambs, Maxwell said.

"At this time of year, the market always goes a bit flat".

Having around 26,000 ewes on sale at last week's Hawarden Ewe Fair was a positive for local farmers, he said.

"The works price for ewes before Christmas was fairly strong, but there should be good opportunities for farmers to restock".

While prime wool prices had been positive, farmers were effectively making a loss to shear strong-wool sheep, he said.

But conditions on farm were relatively normal for this time of year, Maxwell said.

"Yes, we are dry at the moment, but that's what happens in North Canterbury at this time of year.

"As long as we get that autumn rain around the Cheviot show weekend we will be right".