Opinion: Help for farmers in Edgecumbe needed

This farm was just one of many affected by the floodwaters that swept through Edgecombe and surrounding districts.

What a couple of weeks it was ...

Over the last week I have been involved with the Bay of Plenty emergency event response in Whakatane and then wider BOP region. Seeing the impact the storms have had on properties first hand has been staggering.

The resilience of farming communities to pull themselves together, help each other out and seek help for others has been amazing. It reaffirms the value of our rural communities and the relationships they have with their neighbours and local communities.

We are putting together a team of people who can go and help farmers develop their action plans, do feed budgets and get a recovery plan under way.

Many farms have not had significant damage, however there is still some degree of impact on feed supplies and feed budgets for the next season.

Updating your feed budgets and reviewing wintering plans is important, especially for low lying farms which will have lower growth rates and utilisation than normal. Using fertilisers with both nitrogen and sulphur will help water logged pastures recover faster.

Let's hope that we can dry out over the next few days and allow seed and fertiliser to be sown and recovery to get started.

Thank you for all the assistance that has been offered. If you need any help or advice call 0800 327646.