On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Conditions on Horowhenua dairy farms are challenging enough to keep people on their toes. It's been nearly a month since the last rain fell. Grape harvesting's kicked into gear this week in Marlborough and in Southland winter crops are struggling and grass growth is slow. Listen to On the Farm for more on conditions on Farms and orchards around the country.

The Bay of Islands has been having the best summer in a long time but other parts of Northland are very dry and dusty. Bulls on a farm near Kerikeri have been putting on 1 kilogramme a day for the past 120 days. The kikuyu is long,  green and springy.  Animals are only able to be drip fed into the works when the odd space becomes available.

The South Auckland/Franklin district's had no rain this week. Just fine sunny days and light winds. Nothing is growing without water

In Waikato dairy cows are only going into new paddocks to get a different view. There's no grass to speak of. Farmers are continuing to feed out maize but many are now starting to dry herds off.  It's time for the next round of facial eczema control with zinc bullets, although spore levels aren't too bad with it being so dry. Great dust clouds rise up when maize is being harvested.  

The first of the season's shipment of gold kiwifruit left the Port of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, on Thursday bound for Japan. The red kiwifruit harvest has been going offshore for a couple of weeks and it's now about two thirds through. The industry seems to be coping labour-wise at present. It's not into the peak time yet and things could change as picking increases.  

Taranaki  is generally still looking good. The farmer we caught up with has only recently started feeding out. Northern Taranaki is a bit drier whereas around the coast nature has been kind.   

Gisborne farms are having a really growthy period and stock are in excellent order. The spots of rain have fallen at just the right time this season. Cooler evenings are dropping facial eczema spores thankfully.  They had been building a month ago.  It's still hard to get stock, especially bulls, into the meat works but with plenty of feed on hand farmers aren't too worried yet.

A drive through Hawkes Bay lets one see lovely green paddocks and in Wairarapa dairy and sheep and beef farms are looking pretty good too. For winemakers however it's challenging. Labour issues abound as elsewhere plus the moisture hasn't been welcome.  However the Sauvignon grapes are fantastic.  They're more resilient in poorer conditions. Chardonnay is going okay too.

Manawatu, after getting 200 millimetres of rainfall in February, has had zero in March to date so, while not desperate, farmers are looking for rain. They're feeling a little gun shy it's so dry and there is no space in the meat works which doesn't help. The December and February rains were terrible for the grain crops so wheat and barley harvests have been a disaster. They've sprouted and are getting rejected.  Early maize silage crops thankfully are good. Taihape farms are dry and could do with more rain before the rams go out in about a month.
 
Conditions on Horowhenua dairy farms are challenging enough to keep people on their toes.  It's been nearly a month since the last rainfall. The dews are nice and heavy but rain's needed while it's still warm.  Farmers always hope to use March to set up for winter. Having said that, there is still time for a good late autumn to arrive.  Farmers are milking on. Dairy and sheep and beef farmers can't get surplus stock into the meat works here either because Covid is affecting freezing workers.  Our dairy contact says as a result his silage stack is going down faster than desirable for this time of year.

In the Nelson/Motueka region - Jazz, Koru, Fuji, Sonia, Ambrosia, Dazzle and Red Braeburn apples are coming off this week. Growers could do with more chilly nights to colour the fruit though. Our contact at Motueka says after even one cold night, it's like someone's gone though the orchard with a paint brush. Ground conditions are dry so he's started irrigating harvested trees to keep the roots healthy. Covid is impacting already stressed staffing levels  but more RSE workers have arrived to ease the pressure in some orchards.

Grape harvesting's kicked into gear this week in Marlborough. First up it's Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes destined for sparkling wine and the early Sauvignon Blanc varieties. Some vineyards are machine harvesting around-the-clock. On farms - the ram's out with the ewes, winter crops are going in and farmers are re-grassing paddocks.  
 
Some rain last weekend was welcomed by a farmer at Whataroa on the West Coast as the grass was turning brown. She says they've got no surplus feed on hand so the herd is having to make do. Most of the culls have gone to the works which makes things easier feed-wise.  This week the cows have gone down to once-a-day milking to help maintain condition. Milk production's well down this season due to the wet spring and dry summer.

It's been a cool week in Canterbury. There's still some harvesting to go. None was done this week. There's plenty of feed for stock on  dryland farms. Even though grass growth's been good, milk production on dairy farms is still back a bit on last season.  At the meat processors there's a backlog and this is being exacerbated by Covid with staff away.  

A farmer in the Taieri basin in Otago says milk production's ticking along but is down four percent on last season. The excellent payout makes life easier but that's been countered by fast rising costs for everything. Most crops are in and the baleage is made. The farmer says he's been cleaning the ends of the drain pipes this week in preparation for a wet winter.

Conditions are very dry across the Southland region and have reached a critical juncture in western and southern areas. Winter crops are struggling and grass growth is slow. One farmer says she's grown only 15 kilos of dry matter per hectare this week. Normally at this time of year it's about 80. On some farms, stock are getting supplementary feed that's normally reserved for winter. Arable crops are being harvested and people are still drafting stock and trying to get them to the freezing works.