Drought Update - Northland
Welcome to the weekly update from the Northland drought committee for the dairy,
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Before and after photos of a farm in Kerikeri. Above taken on 7th January, below taken on 8th February after 40mm rainfall on 1st February. |
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| horticulture, sheep and beef sectors.
Taking control of things on your farm now will cost you a lot less than trying to catch up once the rain comes.
Hopefully the information below will be of help to you when farming through this challenging drought.
Tafi Manjala
Chairman - Extension Sub-Committee
Members:
Tafi Manjala (Chairman), David Swney and James Mwendwa (DairyNZ), Brian Hughes and Linda Stewart (Fonterra), Mike Eagles (Horticulture NZ), Malcolm McCullum (Meat and Wool), Gareth Baynham (AgFirst), Debbie Johnson (Northland Regional Council), Dennis Anderson (Federated Farmers), Roger Taylor (Agricultural recovery facilitator) John Blackwell (Sheep and Beef Council) and Des Hamlin (RD1).
Current Situation:
- Since the rainfall event of 1st and 2nd February there has been little rainfall in the region and the situation remains similar to that prior to the rainfall of last week
- In Kaitaia and Kaikohe river flow levels are almost at the limit of the resource consents where the take is required to cease
- Milk production is down 30% in the Bay of Islands and 15% behind on a daily basis for the region
- Pasture growth rates typically range from 10 - 20 kgDM/ha/day
- Crickets: Crickets at 25/m2 can reduce pasture production by 2 tDM/ha
- Cricket numbers are on the increase. A 3.55 metre length of plastic pipe makes a circle of about 1 square metre area for counting crickets. Mix 4ml of dishwashing liquid in 10 litres of water and pour down soil cracks to flush out cricket
- If cricket numbers are above 10/m2, start baiting. Current counts: Ruawai 3- 20/m2, Kaikohe and Oromahoe 15/m2. Cost to bait $25-30/ha - organise your bait now. For more information click here
- The assistance package announced by central government has provision around provisional tax, Income equalisation and Working for Families. It does not contain provision for compensation, subsidies or grants. Talk to your accountant or the Rural Support Trust for more information, or download the brochure Drought Relief in Northland to find out what government assistance is available
- Stress is a normal response to situations like these. Excess stress has serious side effects on the farm, the family and the community. For more information download the brochure Coping with Stress on the Farm.
- The fire risk in the region is still classified as extreme, with total fire bans in place
- The Rural Support Trust Ag Recovery Facilitator Roger Taylor is available to help farmers sort out the key issues they are facing and the options for dealing with them. He's pretty good at issues around feed supply too!
Events:
Let your colleagues and clients know about these drought management events:
Dairy:
The field day at Roger and Jane Hutching's farm on Monday in Okaihau was attended by 70 people. Speakers covered finance, people welfare, assistance from central government and farm management advice.
We are using a shed meeting concept to engage any suppliers who can organise six or more fellow farmers to their home to help with feed plans, and to discuss management options to get through the drought. Contact your Fonterra area manager or DairyNZ consulting officer if you would like to be involved. To-date we have held two shed meeting in the far north where 28 farmers attended.
Sheep and Beef:
Key Messages:
Below are key messages to help farmers manage their way through the drought:
Dairy:
- Look after yourself and your team. There is plenty of help and support around - make sure you use it
- Have and implement a feed and financial plan
- Talk to your financial team on options for your farm - tax, income equalisation, interest only options
- 30% of diet needs to be forage if feeding PKE
- If feeding more than 4.5kgDM/cow of maize silage you need to supplement magnesium, salt
- Facial eczema is currently low but spore counts are rising. Start dosing to build up protection
- For more information visit www.dairynz.co.nz/drought
Sheep and Beef:
- Killing space: there is spare killing capacity at Moerewa, SFF and Green Lea at present so there is less pressure getting stock killed if required
- Animal Health: Keep monitoring for FE, internal parasites and fly strike. All of these are likely to pose a greater threat to animal health after the rain. Stock water is still critical for some farms - give the best water to the young stock as they are most vulnerable to water-borne diseases
- Financial: now is a good time to sit down and work out your current financial position. Revise budgets and cash flows for the next 12 months and talk to your accountant and bankers. If you have destocked, keep the proceeds available so that you can act to restock when the time is right. Government assistance with income equalisation will help.
- For more information visit www.meatnz.co.nz
Horticulture:
- Keep the irrigation going. It is better to apply it at night when there is less evaporation. Apply mulch to trees to help retain moisture and don't mow your orchard. Leave the ground cover on to help retain moisture
- Talk to your hort rep/ pack houses for advice. Strip-pick trees to reduce stress on trees
- Don't plant young trees now
- For more information visit www.hortnz.co.nz
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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