Farmers count the costs of huge storm

Neil Pollock and David Yorwath go for a row in a flooded paddock on the banks of the Waikato River. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Farmers across New Zealand will be counting the costs following the massive storm that continues to ravage the county.

Wild winds and rain have whipped most of the country, while Southland and the West Coast have received snow falls uncommon at this time of year.

Don Nicolson, the president of Federated Farmers, said the areas south-east of Invercargill, where he runs a small sheep farm, have borne the brunt of the snow fall.

"At this time of the year I've never seen this much snow," Mr Nicolson said. "The only other time was 1996, but that was the middle of winter."

He said the snow could not have come at a worse time for sheep farmers as ewes are giving birth to lambs, the loss of which will be significant in the area. Pregnant ewes risked contracting milk fever, a metabolic disease caused by a lack of calcium intake.

"Most farmers have good shelters," Mr Nicolson said. "The sheep know to go in there to stay warm. The problem is once they sit down and get into the third stage of milk fever, they don't get up."

For that reason Mr Nicolson said it was important farmers kept their sheep standing up.

"There is going to be a large economic loss for the area as a result of this," he said.

"We all have to cope with what the weather throws at us. As a farmer, you can only do what you can do."

Mr Nicolson said the snow on his farm was around 15cm deep at its worst and is now around 8cm deep. He hoped to be able to see the grass again by the end of the day.

"Most of my life, and I've lived here all my life, the snow I get is gone by lunchtime," he said. "Down here we're not concerned about global warming, we're concerned about local warming."

The snow fall has also cost dairy farmer Rod Pemberton, who has farms both in Central Otago and Southland.

"The tankers haven't been able to pick up the milk so we've had to throw out milk.

"Dairy farmers are probably in a better situation than sheep farmers," he said, as sheep farmers are now lambing while dairy farmers are now seven-eighths of the way through calving.

The last few days' rainfall is just another chapter in what has been a wet winter and spring for Manawatu dairy farmer Andrew Hoggard.

"It's not just the weekend, it's the last two months," Mr Hoggard said.
"It's basically non-stop - everyday there seems to be some rain."

Mr Hoggard said the paddocks on his farm, just north of Feilding, were water-logged, and his cattle were over-reliant on feed.

"When it is muddy, the cows trample the grass into the mud and can't eat much. And they're cold, the feed is used to generate heat, so the milk production is down.

"She's pretty miserable out there," he said. "It's not just our area ... it's the entire bloody country."