While managing their way through the hammering of Cyclone Gita last month the region’s dairy farmers are also still recovering from the drought, Federated Farmers provincial president Donald McIntyre says.
“Our province was hit this summer with the drought first then we were served another big blow, literally, from the Gita storm.
“The trail of destruction left by Gita is getting under control now but on top of the drought it’s all taking a toll on everybody,” McIntyre said.
“It’s left many farmers stressed and really struggling because they have a severe lack of feed.”
He said the crucial decisions would need to happen soon.
“Many farmers will have to decide whether to dry off cows early, put fertiliser on and try and grow enough grass for the winter, or to keep on milking and buy in extra feed.
“As we all know, if you dry cows off the cash flow stops.
“We are just praying for a better season as we face the challenge of how to farm forward after this double whammy of the cyclone on top of the drought.
“There are a lot just working on the breadline.”
Meanwhile the Feds’ Taranaki feed drive had attracted plenty of donations.
McIntyre said the initiative had attracted generous interest from throughout the country.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the offers we’ve received.”
Farmers from around the country were invited to donate towards feed and transport costs.
All donations were being allocated to Taranaki farmers by a committee appointed by the local Federation.
“We will assess all offers carefully and match them in the best possible way,” McIntyre said.
Federated Farmers had also opened its Adverse Events Fund for charity donations.
In Golden Bay the Takaka Hill road re-opened to truck and trailer units on March 20, having been initially under full closure following the Gita storm of February 20 then opening for limited time and to limited vehicles.
Golden Bay Feds president Wayne Langford said it had been really difficult to get stock out over the past four weeks, but praised the sole trucking company, Sollys, for its efforts to work with farmers.
“It’s been a bit tough but roughly speaking most are moving out of recovering stage now and back to some normality,” Langford said.
While transport companies had been charging a 40-60% freight surcharge, farmers weren’t grumbling.
“We have still been able to get stuff in and out and we are grateful for that.
“Sollys have done a fantastic job supporting farmers.”
Sollys transport company owner Merv Solly said his business had been hit with a $600,000 loss following the severe damage to the only road out of the region.
With the wet summer there was plenty of feed, which Langford said had been a blessing.
“There’s been lots of grass and not having to bring extra feed into the Bay had taken a bit of stress off.”
He said tourism had been hit hard with operators generally reporting a drop of 50% in business with their summer cut short.
“Any farmers thinking about a holiday, pop on up to the Bay – tourism here needs a bit of shove here.”
Upper South Island Fonterra operations manager Chris Win said the barge had been a saviour in the first week for both Fonterra and the Takaka community.
He said while operations were pretty much back to normal transport logistics remained challenging and Fonterra was still using a “fair few” contractors to move milk and product around.
Both Taranaki and Golden Bay met medium-scale adverse event criteria, triggering funding for recovery efforts.
Assistance from Enhanced Task Force Green and Rural Assistance Payments were also available.
Insurance Council New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton said it was too early to put a figure on the Gita storm claims but he expected they would be up there with the storm that hit the Thames region in early January and Cyclone Fehi that ravaged parts of the South Island.
Grafton said these two events had so far come in at $28 million and $40m respectively.
“We are still working on Gita but we know that will be significant too and that will be three in the first quarter of the year.”
Last year, with insured loss payments at $243m, was the biggest since records started in 1968.
“It’s important that we don’t lose sight of the impact cumulative extreme weather events can have.
“This is the sort of thing we can expect to see with ongoing climate change – more frequent, more severe storms,” Grafton said.
New approach for adverse events
A new rural Canterbury group is planning for the unexpected as rural agencies and individuals establish a group to represent farmers and growers in future adverse events.
The new Canterbury Primary Industries Adverse Events Cluster Group is leading the integration of agencies in the primary industries, together with the Canterbury Civil Defence and Emergency Management (CDEM) Group, to prepare for and respond to adverse events in rural Canterbury.
The Cluster is open to all agencies involved in Canterbury primary industries and CDEM.
It is led and represented by a Rural Advisory Group (RAG) of the Canterbury Rural Support Trusts, Federated Farmers, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), Canterbury CDEM Group and representatives of each primary sector.
The RAG will lead the development of Cluster terms of reference, process and relevant documentation, and plan the agenda for full Cluster workshops.
“In a disaster or adverse event, the new Cluster Group will mean we are prepared to manage information between farmers and the primary sector with the vital work that CDEM does, group vice chairwoman and North Canterbury Feds president Lynda Murchison said.
“Over the last seven years as we have been hit by several adverse events, it has become clear that we have a role to play in helping Civil Defence respond to the needs of the rural community.
“Our strong networks have already proven that we can work together on a better co-ordinated response for our rural communities.
MPI is facilitating the setup of similar groups throughout New Zealand so when there is a disaster or event, CDEM can tap into the resource for the rural response.
Led by a partnership between the regional CDEM Group, MPI and Rural Support Trusts, most will have a core group of around 10 people, with a much wider group coming together a couple of times a year.
