'That's just pure dusty dirt': Minimal rain causes heartache for Waikato farmers

The deceptive nature of having green pastures but very little growth is causing heartache for Waikato farmers.

The region has had less than half its normal rainfall - after four years of very dry summers.

Peter Le Heron is a dairy farmer at Te Puninga in eastern Waikato.

Ironically, with light rain falling, we walked onto one of his paddocks, spade in hand.

Normally the sound of digging a hole would have been a soft thud, today it was more of a crunch.

''Just dust. Dust all the way. Nothing from the surface down, just a little bit of drizzle. That's just pure dusty dirt.''

He says ideally the hole should be wet all of the way down about 400 millimetres at least.

So far this year his farm has received just 49mm of rain, a far cry from the 130mm needed to kick start any decent grass growth.

And without it, the cows need extra feed to supplement the meagre grass available...

''We've got 200 tonne of maize-silage on the farm and we have probably used 80 tonne of it already. And we bring in some brewers grain but other than that it's fresh air the cows are going into and a little bit of hay we are mixing with the food just to give them a bit of protein. The cows are definitely lacking protein.''

Le Heron admits it is hitting the bottom line.

''We are down 9.3 percent production wise and if you multiply that by Tatua's predicted payout of $10, that's about 10,000 kilograms of milk solids, so $100,000-plus down in income. That's really our profit because our costs have already been paid for'.''

He said they had a brilliant spring.

''The cows were peaking at high levels but then it came to the end of November and they just started to crash, just due to a lack of grass.''

''Grass is king, it's not bought in food.''

So what happens if there is no decent rain before winter sets in.

''The ground gets colder. I took a soil temperature and it was 17 degrees. That's unheard of at this time of the year. Normally grass growth is anything above 14 degrees in the spring. That's our take off point when it starts to grow. We will grow grass if we get rain but frosts will make the ground temperatures drop fairly fast and then we won't grow grass.''

A farm consultant in the region, John Dawson, said farmers buying or selling their property are going to face a problem come the normal handover date of 1 June.

''Part of the sale and purchase agreements in a farm sale and in the share milking contracts specify a minimum average pasture cover on the farm of the first of June, so a lot of people aren't going to make those targets.''

He said some farmers will be down on the contractual supplements required as well.

Agricultural economist with Ag First, Phil Journeaux, said a drop in milk production on average of four to five percent is going to hit farmers hard.

''Some farms are 10-12 percent down.''

He said cow condition is average. As at the end of April it was 4.5, with five the optimum for calving.

''The only way you can get to that will be to feed a lot of supplement which is fine if you are carrying supplement through. The issue you have got is the price is going through the roof. Palm kernel $600 a tonne on farm these days.''

''Certainly going to cost them and by feeding a lot of supplement now it reduces their reserves if we end up having a bad spring.'

''You are really looking at farms having to adapt. A number of farms have switched to autumn calving to try and get away from a dry summer. Unfortunately they are struggling a bit at the moment because the autumn has been so dry. Farms are also looking at carrying more supplements to cover the feed deficits. Farmers are also looking at pastures that are more heat tolerant.''

He said the likelihood of a good payout for dairy farmers this year is some compensation, but it will not be enough.

''The issue is that farm expenses this year have rocketed upwards. On farm cost inflation is sitting at 10-12 percent. So, just think of the up roar if the CPI was sitting at 12 percent.''

Farmers are hanging out for a wet and mild June with at least 100 to 150mm of rain.

NIWA meteorologist Ben Noll says June is predicted to be unsettled, but very unlikely to meet the wishes of farmers.

''It should be expected almost as we go through to next spring and summer especially if the climate drivers that we have now with La Nina continue, we could be looking at another dry period later this year, so certainly a time to remain vigilant, a time to plan and prepare around the increased frequency of these dry periods.''

Waikato and South Auckland have now been classified as having a medium-scale adverse event which enables a package of support for farmers and growers.