In July the Ministry for Primary Industries imposed a two-year ban on growing peas in Wairarapa in a bid to wipe out the pea weevil found in the region.
Growers were forced to look at other crop options but while there were opportunities at varying levels, nothing was stacking up with certainty.
Feilding-based seed company H&T managing director Paul Oliver said his company had worked hard to be able to offer the 70 affected growers other crop contracts.
The chance to grow maize, wheat and barley on contract for a group of buyers the company had sourced was initially welcomed by farmers but on reading between the lines they hesitated.
Oliver acknowledged the prices were lower than ideal but they were the best available.
Like the farmers, the company believed MPI would stump up with the money to top up the contract prices so growers were not out of pocket.
It turned out MPI was confident it could top up the price but there was no guarantee.
“That left us all a bit in disarray as we all know there will not be returns from these contracts equal to what they will lose from peas.
“But we did think with the MPI ex gratia this would be a good proposition to at least get crops in the ground,” Oliver said.
“What we had done was put together options that covered a range of levels of risk, including some that would displace imported grains.”
There was a little bit of ryegrass going in, some green feed and some grass but grain options, while not the most lucrative, with MPI top-up could have been reasonable, Oliver said.
“What would have helped us all would have been certainty.”
“MPI is not telling them what to do, just telling them to make a decision, a decision based on no certainty but a highly likely scenario.”
Jamie Falloon
Federated Farmers
Returns on cereal crops, compared to peas, without ex gratia would be non-existent, Oliver said.
Federated Farmers Wairarapa president Jamie Falloon said the key message for farmers was they needed to do something.
“MPI is not telling them what to do, just telling them to make a decision, a decision based on no certainty but a highly likely scenario.”
MPI had set the guidelines that required farmers to keep good records for their decisions and provide proof they had taken all reasonable steps for the alternative crops they had grown to get the best returns they could.
At the end of the season they could then lodge a claim to MPI for the difference between what had been realised and what would have been earned from peas.
“It’s the uncertainty that’s concerning for farmers. While MPI has been as positive as they can be, there is no 100% certainty.
“That’s a difficult one all-round that in the end comes down to trust,” Falloon said.
“We really just need certainty – at the end of the day farmers here are taking the hit in this eradication for the rest of New Zealand.”
Farmers now had to bite the bullet and make the decision and what level of risk they were prepared to take would determine what they put in the ground.
MPI pea weevil response liaison Grant Boston said there were 13 infected properties in the controlled area and burning of pea straw in Wairarapa continued with a plan for monitoring weevils outside the controlled area being developed in conjunction with the industry.
MPI had investigated after receiving reports from people concerned about volunteer peas growing on a Wairarapa property.
“This incident has highlighted the vigilance required over the next two years if this pest is to be eradicated.
“Any potential non-compliance with the current controlled area notice could place the entire industry at jeopardy if the correct procedures are not followed,” Boston said.
