Drought Update - Northland
Welcome to the weekly update from the Northland drought committee for the dairy, horticulture, sheep and beef sectors.
Financial implications of the drought are now becoming more urgent for all sectors. Focus on completing feed budgets and cash flow budgets for the next 6 month period and communicate financial requirements to your bank. If you or someone you know needs help with these, or any other matters, call 0800 778 667.
Tafi Manjala
Chairman - Extension Sub-Committee
Current Situation:
Soil Moisture Deficit 22 March 2010
- 0 - 5mm rainfall over the last 7 days
- No substantial rain is forecast over the next week
- The end of March is in sight. The cool, dry weather pattern is still with us and no change is predicted this month
- Facial eczema: Low to slight risk in most areas except Maungataroto, which is high risk. Go to www.rd1.co.nz or www.meatandwoolnz.com to get the latest spore counts and talk to your vets! There may be localised pockets of high spore counts missed by the general district numbers
- Water supply: This is seriously low. Stock must be moved to water if there are no alternative temporary supplies. Have a "worst case" plan. Clean and deepen dams for the future while they are low or empty
- Animal welfare: If you think that conditions are getting near a point where you can’t meet your animals’ needs then seek help to discuss your options because you need to take action
- Financial: Expect a wait of 10-14 days to get an appointment with your banker, as more farmers are requesting visits. If you need help call the Rural Support Trust on 0800 778 667
- Pasture growth rates are still low at 5 - 10kgDM/ha/day. Higher rates up to 20+kgsDM/ha/day on paspalum and kikuyu, but even the kikuyu is slowing with the continuing cool, dry weather pattern
- Average pasture covers range between 1300 - 1500kgDM/ha. Some sheep and beef farms will be down to 1200. Can you achieve the pasture cover you need for winter and early spring? Attend an upcoming drought meeting to get some strategies. More details below.
- Available assistance:
- The RST Ag Recovery Facilitators provide 1:1 drought visits. To book a visit contact Helen Moodie on 0800 778 667
- Boarding bursaries and grants. For secondary school rural students living away from home. For more information go to www.ruralwomen.org/bursaries.htm
Events:
Let your colleagues and clients know about these drought management events:
Dairy:
Do you have a plan when effective rains start? Book these important dates on your calendar.
- 25th March: St John Center in Wellsford (on main street), 10:30am-12:30pm. Topics: Complete an autumn/winter feed budget and discussing the drought
- 26th March: Drought Recovery Seminar "Be prepared for when it rains" Jordan Valley Farm, 259 Jordan Valley Road, Hikurangi. 10.30 – 1.30 pm. Topics: Regrassing, feed budgeting and financial tools. Come and get ideas on how you can use DairyNZ’s new ‘Smart Water Use on Dairy Farms’ - a practical guide to help use water more efficiently and reduce water loss in the dairy shed and for stock watering. Bring figures on supplement available, cow numbers and anticipated milk production until the end of season for a workshop session
- 29th March: Split Calving Seminar. Waipapakauri Rugby Clubrooms, Waipapakauri
- Waiharara Group from 5pm - 6:30pm discussing winter feed options and feed budgets
- Autumn/Split Calvers 7pm - 9pm: Short technical session on nutritional issues with diets, then into feed budgets and plans to get through. BBQ dinner from 6.30pm
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Sheep and Beef:
Two drought meetings are scheduled for Thursday 25th March, focusing on strategies for recovery and the financial implications. From the first meeting at Taipa it is evident that the financial implications are a key aspect to be addressed:
- 25th March (Thursday): Mid-North, Pakaraka Hall 10am-12.30pm*
- 25th March (Thursday): Lower-North, Tangiteroria Memorial Hall 2:30pm - 5pm*
*Bring your stock tallies and effective grazing areas for a workshop session.
Lunch/snacks/drinks provided
Contact Malcolm McCallum 027 2315680. For other drought strategies visit www.meatandwoolnz.com or Northland Regional Council website.
Key Messages:
Below are key messages to help you manage your way through the drought:
Dairy:
- Milk production is down 2.8% for the season, 30% daily and 22% monthly. More herds are being completely dried off
- Cow condition: Any cows under condition score 3 need urgent attention. Keep them close to the farm dairy or the house paddock so you can better monitor their weight gain.
- Three points from Roger and Jane Hutchings' farm in Kerikeri:
- Grass seed has been sown in the paddocks where turnips have been grazed. Despite not having rain since sowing, the seeds have germinated and rain is needed to keep the seedlings alive
- A late sown turnip paddock which finally germinated after the February rain is now ready for grazing. There are 2-3 weeks of feed from the turnips. The plan is to feed supplement to the cows in the turnip paddock as a tool to stretch out the grazing rotation
- With the lack of any follow-up rain, the situation is deteriorating. Grass which had looked to have recovered is starting to wilt. It’s time to review the feed budget again.
- For more information visit www.dairynz.co.nz/drought
Sheep and Beef:
- Sheep and beef farms are facing difficult decisions again as decreasing pasture cover and supplementary feed supplies mean further destocking may become a necessity
- Weakened store market with less demand coming from the south implies lower prices for further stock sales
- Update feed budget and extend it for the next 6 months, doing “what if” scenarios using different growth rates in the feed budget to identify worst case scenarios and implications on stocking rates
- Revise budgets and cash flow for the next 6 - 12 months, taking into account restocking options and additional costs - possible regrassing and supplementary feeds
- Restocking: consider options for restocking bearing in mind that paying premiums for scarce livestock will have a serious impact on profitability next financial year.
- For more information visit www.meatandwoolnz.com
Horticulture:
Useful Links:
- To view the previous Northland drought updates click on the links below:
- To read more about managing the drought in Northland click on the links below:
Contacts:
If you require any further information on the Northland drought, please contact the relevant person below:
    
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