Demand for stock baleage has been high in Masterton as the Covid-19 virus compounds a tough summer for Wairarapa's farmers.
Stock baleage is cropped at Homebush, Masterton. Photo: Wairarapa Times-Age / Marcus Anselm
Masterton District Council (MDC) workers are ploughing on through during the lockdown response to the worldwide pandemic.
Staff at the Homebush sewage treatment plant have been working on through the crisis, with enhanced health and safety measures, to meet demand.
Treated wastewater is used to water nearby land, with plants cropped and sold on as stock baleage.
During this summer's drought conditions in Wairarapa, demand has been so high that MDC staff have been called taking orders as they work.
Kevin Godfrey leads MDC's water and wastewater team.
Pictured here in 2019, Kevin Godfrey of Masterton District Council, right, is one of many local authority essential workers. Photo: Wairarapa Times-Age / File
Godfrey said for a lot of farmers, the lack of feed has been just as much of a worry as the virus.
"We've sold all the baleage produced last season, and the total amount produced so far this season," he said.
"And there are pre-orders for what we might be able to produce in future, weather permitting."
MDC took the step of having their water team working in self-isolation a week before the government introduced the Level 4 alert.
That includes providing treated water for Masterton at Kaituna and Tinui, and sewage treatment at Homebush, Riversdale and Castlepoint.
Truckies coming into Homebush to collect the baleage must follow a strict distancing protocol.
"We are taking all the distancing and hygiene requirements very seriously," Godfrey said.
"Generally, when I've been out and about, most people are very aware of the need to keep their distance, and I try to talk to people from the cab of the ute, with the windows up - quite a lot on the phone.
"But there was one chap who seemed to want to get a bit close.
"I saw him talking to truckie right in close and when it started coming towards me I was back in the cab with the windows up, in a flash."
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