A new fence on the hill paddock on David Cotton's Tasman Farm was destroyed in the 2015 floods. Photo / Supplied
A new fence on the hill paddock on David Cotton's Tasman Farm was destroyed in the 2015 floods. Photo / Supplied
For many in the farming game, the event on that fateful weekend in June 2015 is a distant memory.
While farmers and the rural sector were affected by the weather bomb that struck overnight on Friday June 19, and Saturday June 20, the full impact was largely felt by theirurban neighbours.
The then-president of Wanganui Federated Farmers, Brian Doughty, who headed the Enhanced Task Force Green clean-up crews, said for once many farmers had escaped the full force of this event.
"When compared to previous years, the rural sector wasn't too badly off apart from one or two. There were slips, access tracks affected, some stock losses and fences down, but certainly not the damage caused by earlier events - it was mainly in town and roads in and out of town cutting access," Doughty said.
"Enhanced Task Force Green was used, but not to the extent of work from previous events and this time the damage was largely south of Whanganui, in Rangitīkei and into Manawatū."
Flats on David Cotton's Tasman Farm were under water for the first time ever during the 2015 floods. Photo / Supplied
Shaun O'Leary's Whangaehu Valley dairy farm has 283 flat hectares and the nearby Whanganui River covered 100ha with silt in June that year.
The flood decreased his farm production by about 15 per cent. The total clean-up cost was around $150,000. The O'Learys have weathered four floods in the previous 11 years.
O'Leary had to cull 100 cows from his 1500-strong Kiwi-cross herd because there wasn't enough grass. Calving was not too bad, considering the state of the farm post-flood.
He was forced to buy quite a bit of supplementary feed to keep the herd going, finally finishing that in November. Two of the houses his six workers use were flooded, but were liveable again quite soon after.
"Everything's back to normal now and the 2015 flood is a distant memory," O'Leary said.
"It's what you expect when you farm . . . next to a river, although we have had our share of 100-year events - we've had heaps, while my father only had one in 80 years. I guess when it rains it's always in the back of your mind that a flood might happen,"
Fortunately, O'Leary and wife Anna had shares in a handy racehorse called Who Shot Thebarman that won the 2018 A$2 million Sydney Cup. It has since retired and is living the life of Riley at the Living Legends property for top class gallopers in Australia.
"That helped, everyone should own a good racehorse," O'Leary said.
Ben Cotton pointing to the 2015 water level in the woolshed on the family farm. Photo / Supplied
Waitotara Valley's Chris and Dianne Frewin and their sons Wade and Ben were among the farmers worst-hit.
They suffered massive slips, lost 800-1000 sheep, their large woolshed was filled with silt a metre deep in parts, and a badly damaged abutment on a bridge leading to Wade's house cost more than $20,000 to repair. Like most of their neighbours, the Frewins lived with limited access both on and off farm for months.
The entrance to the woolshed on the Frewin farm in Waitotara Valley was filled with silt after the 2015 flood. Photo / Supplied
Chris was philosophical then and still is, five years on.
"It's part of farming, especially in the hills like we are up here," he said.
"We hardly even think about it now. I suppose when it rains heavily you wonder if there's another one on the way. It p****s you off at the time, but it's just a case of head down, repair the damage and carry on.
"Everything is back to normal. In fact, I looked out the window the other day at a paddock that was badly hit in 2015 and the sun was shining, the grass was lush and green. Bulls were grazing and a couple of feral deer were ambling by – it was wonderful."
