"Rain is gold to farms during the summer.
"On the farm at the moment, it is the peak season to get stock processed. We've had some partial relief with the recent rain we have had. The rain has certainly relieved some pressure but things are very dry."
However, he said where stock was not able to be processed there was a huge impact on farms.
"There have been significant delays to this point in getting stock killed because of the labour shortage in meat processing plants.
"A Covid outbreak would only escalate that."
The Whanganui region has six major processing facilities run by three different companies.
AFFCO have two plants, Imlay and Castlecliff, here in Whanganui.
Silver Fern Farms (SFF) have plants in Waitōtara and Hāwera and ANZCO Foods has plants near Bulls and Marton.
SFF chief executive Simon Limmer said his organisation started planning early as it didn't expect to be immune from the impact of Omicron.
"We're drawing on the range of protocols and controls developed through our experience managing Covid to date which will help us to minimise any disruption.
"Offshore, we're seeing Omicron affect workforces through 30 to 40 per cent absenteeism. This will present challenges with our workforce already around 550 workers short."
Cranstone said labour shortages were crippling businesses across many sectors.
There were significant revenue opportunities the country was missing out on because there were not enough staff to process meat or pick fruit at the optimal time, he said.
"If we can't grow the active labour force with New Zealanders, we need to be able to bring staff in from overseas."
Limmer agreed and hoped that the Government would look into allowing overseas workers to come in and fill that gap.
"As we are constrained by the historic low unemployment rate here, we've been asking the Government to reconsider giving good employers access to overseas workers to support the performance of the overall New Zealand economy."
In addition to the controls and protocols in place, Silver Fern Farms have trialled rapid antigen testing with around 30 other businesses last year.
Limmer said SFF's network of processing facilities provides them with the option to move animals between plants as Omicron moves around the country.
"Our focus will be moving animals off farm, although at times this may come at the expense of value.
"Our priority will be our fully shared and valued suppliers, as well as prioritising areas with animal welfare risk. We're asking all suppliers to reach out to their livestock rep early."
ANZCO Foods said it would continue to operate with strict protocols, such as using PPE and facilities to keep employees distanced.
"We continue to encourage all our employees to be vaccinated to best protect them, their family and friends and workmates," a spokesperson said.
"We will continue to work closely with our employees and farmer suppliers to endeavour to continue to meet their processing requirements and our customers' needs.
The spokesperson said the company would have to be "nimble" because of the unpredictability of how Omicron would affect operations.
"Given the spread of Omicron in the community it is only a matter of when, not if, this will impact business operations. However, we have plans in place to mitigate the risks and enable close contact employees to return to work in a timely and efficient manner."
AFFCO declined to comment.
