Opinion: The Country's executive producer Rowena Duncum looks back on the biggest weather event during her farming career.
March 2, 2012, is a date forever lodged in the minds of many Taranaki farmers. The day the weather bomb hit.
Murphy's law - first week off-farm for months and the phone goes at 5.30am. It's the relief milker: "I can't get the cows to the shed. It's blowing so hard they literally won't leave the paddock."
Long story short, we told him to leave them there for a few hours and try again if things calmed down. Naturally, (good old Murphy again) a falling tree landed on his car on his way home.
He was fine but he had a hair-raising ride in the local fire engine, racing wind-propelled wheely bins all the way home.
The second sign something was wrong, was another phone call - this time around 6am.
It's the manager from the other farm: "The homestead roof's gone on our farm. Your workshop roof's gone. Pump shed too – that's in the neighbours' horse paddock and your hayshed roof is spread all over the place. Everything's blown away."
He painted quite the dramatic picture, huh? Not quite as dramatic as the drive back out to the farm, a 30-minute trip that took at least 60, thanks to dodging downed power lines and fallen trees.
The next 48 hours passed in a haze of salvaging what we could, removing trees from fences, passing generators all around the district to milk when we could. Oh, and cleaning the vat by hand in my underwear.
I never thought I'd say we came off lightly. But, compared to the neighbours, we genuinely did. Along with missing roofs and snapped pine trees, all four of their irrigators were utterly destroyed. They were wrapped around themselves like a 1990s raspberry licorice twist - the kind you got at netball on a Saturday morning for 50 cents.
I'll always remember looking on as John Newton from One News filed a piece-to-camera in front of the worst-affected pivot.
This was my first experience with the level of destruction Mother Nature can wreak – but it's more common than I realised, according to FMG. Apparently, 34 per cent of irrigator damage claims are caused by wind, and more than half of all wind claims occur in spring.
Obviously, significant disruption to irrigation is likely to affect both production and profitability. The current global issues around supply chain complexities could also lead to longer than normal delays to repair a damaged irrigator.
So, naturally, to protect your business, it's best to prevent a loss. In association with the experts at Irrigation NZ, FMG has created a simple guide that's freely available on their website. It centres around four principles - 'Plan, Point, Park, and Anchor.'
Having a plan in place is important, as this will ease the pressure when windstorms are forecast, and allow farm teams to respond quickly – no matter who is trying to take a holiday.
The plan should cover wind prediction, who's responsible, what needs to be done, and include regular practice runs – just like fire drills.
Pointing either away from (in the first instance) or into the wind is the best way to reduce damage, as this reduces the surface area exposed to the wind.
There is a tolerance of around 22 degrees, however every degree after that is likely to create drag and increase the chance of the irrigator tipping over.
FMG also recommends using portable anchors, to allow for quicker mobilisation in the event of high winds
One other wee tip to keep in mind is casting your eye over the property at the start of the season to look for hazards.
Overhanging tree branches, hedges and crops are common causes of impact damage to irrigators. This is more common at the start of the season because of vegetation growth since the last time the irrigator was run.
Finally – always check the track before running the irrigator as things may have changed. A little bit of care now can prevent much larger damage later.
For more information: fmg.co.nz or call 0800 366 466