Green but not much grass!
Dairy farmers in the lower North Island are working on protecting next season, according to Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre, who farms just north of the Horowhenua township of Levin.
He says flooded paddocks could take days or even weeks to clear.
He says farmers, particularly in the Rai Valley and Takaka, bore the brunt of the heavy rain. The area has dairy and sheep and beef farmers with some horticultural blocks.
Farmers who are lambing will be facing the biggest challenge, he says.
“Young lambs born in flooded paddocks are unlikely to make it,” he told Rural News.
“People are also cut off from blocks of land.”
Todd, a dairy farmer in Murchison, says farmers in his area fared better.
“We had lot of rain but the damage isn’t bad as it is further up north,” he says.
