“There is a good amount of feed around and we have to capture that and set up feed going forward,” Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers meat and fibre chairman David Acland said.
But that feed store will likely be more than taken up given the hit winter feed crops took in the wet before Christmas.
“There’s a bit of patching up of winter feed crop damage but the loss of winter feed crops is the only big negative really of the wet summer to date.”
Acland said while feed is plentiful it’s the lack of sunshine that’s creating the challenge for farmers.
“Lamb weights are back and while the works are battling to get lambs in it’s not that farmers are holding onto them unnecessarily, they are just not ready to go.”
Mt Somers Station had targeted 1500 lambs to the works at weaning but achieved only 800.
“We weaned before Christmas in the rain, mud and wet and the lambs just didn’t do in the December weather and neither did the feed.
“In the sunshine this week everything is looking a lot happier and hopefully with better weather for the second half of summer we will benefit a good turnaround.
“It will be interesting in six weeks’ time to see how it plays out when lambs do become prime. Indicators are showing the market will hold up.”
Acland acknowledged the confidence in the sheep industry, particularly in the store lamb markets driven largely by the grass market but he’s more excited about the longer term.
“What they are paying for ewe lambs is a good indicator of a strong industry and very positive for the industry as a whole to build up flocks.
“For me that’s a highlight – the demand and the prices for ewe lambs.
“The annual ewe fairs coming up at Temuka and Hawarden will be a very interesting indicator for the future.”
In South Canterbury Miles Anderson said the wet, damp summer so far has been ideal for both grass and clover growth.
“There’s plenty of feed. The challenge is for contractors is to get balage and silage in because it’s so wet.”
Winter feed is also taking a hit.
“If you did get it in before Christmas it’s struggled with wet feet, in many cases drowned right out. It’s either a feast or a famine but there is time for winter feed to come to right if we get some sunshine days now and into February.”
Anderson said most sheep and beef farmers are carrying more stock than usual as lambs, in particular, didn’t do well at all in the wet December. Lambs need the sun on their backs.
“Thank God for the feed abundance now.”
Cropping farmers are not having happy times getting into harvest.
“There’s oodles of peas rotted and just being ploughed straight back into the ground.
“It’s been hellishly wet, a really tricky season after it looked so good at the beginning of November.”
One South Canterbury farmer said he could count on one hand the number of sunshine days his foothills farm has seen since early November.
“Hopefully we will get a run of a few decent days into February. The lambs will grow and crops will come right,” Anderson said.
On the West Coast it’s drying out.
But Federated Farmers West Coast meat and wool chairman Bede O’Connor said farmers are keeping on top of things.
“We had a great spring and early summer and here in the northern half of the coast everyone made their quota of supplementary feed and a bit extra before Christmas.
“Pre-Christmas we had a really good period.”
And that has been a blessing because the coast is now drying out.
“We’ve had a surprising number of days with warm, strong winds and we are drying out, which is a bit unusual for the coast.
“We do expect a dry period but it’s happening very quickly and even though we are getting some rain the evapotranspiration is unusually high.
“But we are all in a good position and hopefully we will see regular rain again in the next three to four weeks,” O’Connor said.
