Floods break fences, damage pastures

The flooding in the Buller catchment is reported as being the worst in three decades. 

The West Coast Regional Council says one of its rain gauges near Inangahua Junction on the Buller River recorded 184mm over three days. Further south in the Paparoa Ranges 387mm were recorded.

Federated Farmers West Coast Dairy chairman Richard Reynolds says the flood was unusual because it lasted so long. Normally he says floods go up and down quite quickly. “In terms of damage, some farmers were badly hit while others got off comparatively lightly. Most farms had fences damaged and some silt on their pastures,” he says.  

One of those farmers badly hit was John Milne. He says it was the worst event he’s seen since he converted his farm to dairying in 1993. He and his wife Joanne farm about 4km from Westport and run 250 cows on their 90ha property on the banks of the Buller River.

“A lot of logs came down in the river so the flood was very very swift. These caused a  lot of damage. We’ve had a lot of damage to our infrastructure with races scoured out and fences which, believe it or not, usually stand up to floods quite well, have been damaged. Fence posts have been ripped out and tossed across paddocks. Pasture wise it’s fine because the water came up and down quite quickly,” he says.

Other infrastructure on the farm such as his house, the dairy shed, feed pads and supplements were not damaged. Because they farm on a floodway, the West Coast Regional Council gave Milne a warning about an impending flood and he was able to move his cows to higher ground.

“The council have a system here for self warning and I am convener of that. So they ring me and I start ringing everyone else to let them know, and then follow the progress of the flood on the internet,” he says.

Milne says he reckons it will take him ten days to get his farm back in order, just in time for calving which is due to start on August 8.

Meanwhile the chairman of Westland Milk Products, Matt  O’Regan, who farms near Inangahua says the flood will put the pressure many farmers to be ready in time for calving. He says there was some minor damage to his farm, but it only took about a day to get things back to normal.

O’Regan says he doubts whether the floods will have any affect on dairy production on the Westland region.