Grass is scarce on Stephen Todd’s dairy farm near Murchison as the drought bites harder and his feed costs escalate to keep his cows well fed.
“It’s as dry as it ever gets,” he says. “It’s really starting to bite hard now and there’s going to be some hard decisions going forward.”
It’s a cruel irony that dairy farmers have their biggest ever forecast payout dangling in front of them but may not be able to keep milking their cows till the end of the season. Not only will they potentially produce less milk, but they will face higher costs to buy extra feed to get them through the dry and possibly into winter if crops don’t get rain.
“Crops are pretty stressed and dry and shrivelling up. It hits you in wintertime when you haven’t got the feed for stock and end up buying in extra feed.”
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has declared an official drought in Tasman and Nelson, adding them to a growing list of regions in the North Island. The driest areas in Tasman are in the southwest, including Tapawera, Murchison and Maruia.
The Motupiko water management zone is on 50 per cent water rationing, while a cease take is on the consent-driven Rainy management zone. In the Upper Motueka zones which includes Tadmor, Baton, Glen Rae and Tapawera, water rationing is at 20 per cent. The Moutere Eastern and Coastal Zone also face rationing. Around Murchison, dairy farmers without irrigation are in the same boat as Stephen, with brown paddocks and little grass.
“With the payout being a high year, we don’t really want to dry the cows off in case it rains. Production is going to be down regardless of what happens now. That basically means less income and you don’t have that money flowing through the local economy.”
It’s better news for urban areas that benefit from the Waimea Community Dam though. Last week, the Tasman Dry Weather Task Force said the dam is full and abstraction levels for urban areas have remained below consented limits throughout the summer season, which means no water restrictions have been implemented. A Tasman District Council spokesperson says there are no restrictions expected for urban users and council-managed supplies.
