Some shearing gangs in Hawke’s Bay are still months behind schedule due to ongoing wet weather and issues accessing farms.
Cyclone Gabrielle caused huge disruption to the local roading network and cut some farms off completely.
Wikitoria Staples who runs Napier-based Puna Shearingwith her partner Laddie said they were still playing catch-up.
“Oh yeah we’re delayed alright, we’re shearing sheep we should have shorn in February and it’s May, we have a lot left to do in Wairoa because the contractor that’s up there still has all his own sheep to do.
“So we’re heading up that way to help because farmers have just been trying to do it themselves.”
Staples said delays were not just because of the cyclone. They had four weeks of rain around Christmas and two more weeks off with rain in January before the cyclone even hit.
“There’s plenty of sheep that were supposed to be done before the cyclone but things keep getting delayed, so yeah they’re heavy and with the wet, it’s created the perfect storm for fly-strike.
“That’s having a big impact on the farmers eh, I feel for them man, their land has slipped, their fences are all down - I had one on the phone crying to me, I don’t know if I’m cut out for this anymore.”
Staples was pretty stressed herself - the state of the roads makes her nervous.
Wairoa from the air following Cyclone Gabrielle in February. Photo / RNZ/ Kate Green
State Highway Two between Napier and Wairoa recently reopened after Waka Kotahi installed a bailey bridge.
“We’ve been using the roads around here for 30 years but my gosh - I’d rather not travel now, they’re so different and I’m nervous that when we go to Wairoa we might get stuck if there’s more heavy rain.
“But it’s our livelihood and it’s a family business so we got to keep going.”
A lot further south in Waipukurau, Neil Waihape who runs The Shearing Company said bridges were now in place giving his gangs access to most, if not all farms in the area - so they have managed to catch up.
“Some farms we couldn’t get to for two to three weeks but quite a few times farmers would meet us on one side of the creek and the shearers would wade through with their gear and the farmer would take them to multiple farms.
“So we’ve got through.”
Waihape said one issue they were dealing with was that a lot of sheep were caked in mud due to wet conditions.
