Aftershocks were still changing the already scarred and broken landscape with many farms in some of the more remote parts of North Canterbury and Marlborough yet to be assessed by geotechnical engineers, Federated Farmers earthquake recovery liaison officer Greg Campbell said.
“Some farmers are going to have to make some big calls around how they farm in the future, the landscape has changed forever,” he said.
There were issues around housing, fencing, farm buildings and infrastructure.
Some farmers had no idea of stock losses and there would be huge bills for new fencing, water supplies, buildings and new access tracks.
Homes were red-stickered and the plight many farmers faced day after day was largely not understood, Campbell said.
“The follow-on just keeps on, people are really stressed, it’s really getting them down and that’s a generous way of describing the mental state,” he said.
“There’s lots of issues but it’s a wait and see. It’s not that farmers don’t want to do anything, it’s they can’t.”
Housing was a major drama.
“Some have no homes, others have damaged homes and it’s not easy to move on a farm when there’s nowhere to move to so, with winter coming, on there’s a mad panic to get people into houses.
“Then there’s the fencing issues. There has been huge loss of land and it’s still moving and we don’t know where it’s going to go so in many cases farmers can’t even do fencing knowing it will last.
“Farmers have put new fences in and it’s already moved.”
Finances were tight after the drought and farmers were loath to spend money that was not going to take them forward.
The recovery was going to be a monumental task to trace damage and map out land remediation.
“No one is saying how long the land will move because it’s hard to work out scientifically – it’s likely to take years,” Campbell said.
“One thing for certain is a big rain event of 100mm in one go is going to create more disaster.”
While he recalled from experience the chaos and trauma of the Christchurch earthquake, this one required a very different operational approach.
“There’s been heaps of support and offers coming for farmers but the locality and extensive nature of the damage makes the response a whole lot more complex.
“The terrain is dangerous and the weather unpredictable at the best of times, let alone after an earthquake.
“Initially, farmers did enough to fix access. Now there is a lot of reality dawning on people.
“It will be a long period of distress and uncertainty.”
Remediation plans would take in both the short and long terms and some options could be totally outside the square for some farmers as they planned how they farmed in the future.
Alternatives could even include forestry or honey, he said.
“Certainly, there is recognition that there has been a whole lot of damage that for some will mean a whole lot of change.”
The remediation plans being put together were about providing independent advice on future options following significant land use damage, Campbell said.
“Certainly, it’s not about telling farmers how to farm, it’s providing ideas and feasible alternatives as they plan their move forward.”
Meantime, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Federated Farmers, local farmers and authorities were putting together a funding application to the Ministry for Primary Industries for a farmer-led, post-earthquake land and business recovery project.
B+LNZ northern South Island director and North Canterbury farmer Phil Smith said the focus of the application was to help farmers whose businesses had been severely affected by land movement and destabilisation.
“There is a need to understand what has changed within individual farm businesses and to support those involved to make good decisions and set appropriate outcomes, particularly in regard to farm infrastructure, business continuity, land management and future land use,” Smith said.
Quake sets record
Scientists have revealed The Kaikoura-Hurunui 7.8 earthquake ruptured 21 faults, possibly a world record in for a single earthquake.
Addressing a presentation to mark four months since the November 14 shake, Dr Kate Clark said 50 people from a range of New Zealand and overseas institutes had been working to measure the impact of the quake that had ruptured about 180km of surface fault.
First indications on the day of the quake were that five faults had ruptured.
“Even that number was a surprise. We were all a bit bewildered, confused and also amazed.
‘It was kind of our first clue that this was probably going to be quite a complicated and unusual earthquake,” Clark said.
