Saturday, March 30, 2024

First north Canterbury spring in three years

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North Canterbury farmers are getting their first spring in three years. Growing conditions for pasture and livestock are excellent after regular rain and very few days of drying, northwest winds.
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Coastal areas have had the most rain with Motunau Beach farmer David Meares reporting about 75mm in the last month.

“That’s about three inches of rain in the way I still look at it and that gets us back to our long-term average for October.

“It’s looking good and everyone is breathing easier.”

Most of North Canterbury has been knocked back by three years of drought – interrupted only by good rainfall last January providing respite until March and April came out very dry again.

Meares has been grubbing tussock on parts of his farm and says the steeper, sunny areas remain dry at root level.

David Hyde, who farms three properties at Hurunui, Motunau and his home block in Scargill Valley says conditions everywhere are the best in three years.

“It’s back to a more normal spring. We’re having a spring this time but we do still need a big soaking rain to set us up for summer.”

He has paddocks of lucerne locked up for balage, all his stock were on the farms rather than being grazed elsewhere, the lambing season was good, lambs were doing well and cattle were making excellent weights.

Hyde’s Scargill block was exposed to the northwesters but he had good pasture cover throughout and the white clover and sub-clover were thriving.

He expected cattle weights to be good to send stock away before Christmas while any rain in the next fortnight would ensure lambs being in top condition through weaning.

“The lamb and wool prices are disappointing and beef has come down but we’ve got the numbers on the ground to make the most of it.”

Farmers in Otago had also had very good growing conditions through October, though the Otago Regional Council has warned the forecast was for a dry summer again and there was a risk of drought-like conditions.

“It’s back to a more normal spring. We’re having a spring this time but we do still need a big soaking rain to set us up for summer.”

David Hyde

 

Farmer

Soil moisture was above last year’s levels and close to normal for the time of the year, its resource science manager Dean Olsen said.

However, some river flows remained low in the Taieri, Manuherikia and Lindis catchments and there were low groundwater levels on the Waitaki Plains. Water users would need to prepare for the likelihood of having to share available water during summer.

At Motunau Beach, Meares also noted forecasts of a drier November and admitted “It could still turn to custard.”

“But I’m taking a glass half-full view of this. It would be churlish to say it’s half-empty after what we’ve had.”

After three years of drought, his stocking rates were about 60% of what used to be normal and he still had 400 hoggets away grazing nearby and they were doing well.

Meares sent his ewe lambs to the works last year so had no two-tooths this year.

His focus on the ewe flock last summer led to a 146% lambing rate, with twins and triplets being well reared.

After a weaning draft in mid-December, he would be happy to send lambs to the works and sell some as stores and planned to keep the ewe lambs this time, conditions permitting.

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