increase font size
Ben Allomes.
Heavy weekend rain, in the lower eastern half of the North Island, will start to turn things around for farmers who have been facing a desperate situation with drought.
More rain is expected in the next 24 hours.
Dairy farmer Ben Allomes, who farms near Woodville in the Tararua District, says the rain will ease the situation on his and other farms.
Allomes described the situation, prior to the rain, as tight with supplementary feed in either short supply or very expensive.
He says in the past week, he’s managed to get a few more cull cows off the works which has eased the pressure.
However, Allomes points out that more rain is still needed to improve the feed situation going into winter.
President of Federated Farmers for Wairarapa, William Beetham, says some parts of his region received up to 200 millimetres of rain, which he says has come at the right time.
Beetham says with sunny weather and the soil still warm the grass should now start to grow. He says the feed situation has been very tight with baleage almost impossible to get – although supplies of straw and grain were available.
Beetham says with Covid-19 the closure of the sale yards has made it hard for farmers. He has three properties and employs six fulltime staff and has put in place a whole set of protocols to protect staff to allow them to work.
Beetham says his workers have also been issued with letters, designed by Fed Farmers, which state that staff are working in an essential industry and have to travel between farms to carry out their work.
Academic Dr Mike Joy and his employer, Victoria University of Wellington have apologised for his comments suggesting that dairy industry CEOs should be hanged for contributing towards nitrate poisoning of waterways.
A comment by outspoken academic Dr Mike Joy suggesting that dairy industry leaders should be hanged for nitrate contamination of drinking/groundwater has enraged farmers.
Federated Farmers says the final report into banking competition is a significant step forward for rural New Zealand - and a vindication of the farming sector's concern.
Farmer lobby group Federated Farmers has announced it is supporting a new Member’s Bill which it says could bring clarity to New Zealand farmers and save millions in legal costs.
Federated Farmers says climate protest group Greenpeace is manufacturing outrage and attempting to scare New Zealanders with headlines that have no basis in science.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
