Southland Farmer Faces $120k Lamb Loss After Wet Spring

Dooley, Federated Farmers’ Southland Meat and Wool chair, said the “diabolical” conditions were the worst he had seen since a storm that brought a week of snow in 2010.

On October 1 Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson announced support for weather-hit southern farmers, classifying the extreme wet and cold conditions across Southland and the Clutha District as a “medium-scale adverse event”.

Speaking to Rural News last week, Dooley said it was “typical Mother Nature” that the bad weather stopped the day they finished lambing, and the sun had been out since.

“Once we didn’t need her to play ball anymore, she’s now cooperating.

“But the effect is still there and will still be there. We’re just not sure if the wet-dry numbers [ewes that were pregnant but now have no lambs] are less than we expected.

“Normally we would expect to get 70 to 100 wet-drys and we’ll be at 200 this year.”

On top of that there would also be a lot of ewes with just one lamb where there should be two, since most of the flock scanned for twins.

Dooley regularly posts update videos on his “Deep South Sheep and Beef” Youtube channel.

One recent video, uploaded at the end of September, shows him struggling on sodden pasture to move mobs of pregnant or recently-lambed ewes.

He explains that many lambs were having to be moved indoors and fed on milk replacer.

“50% of the potential margin on those has gone on milk powder but we’re not going to leave them there to die.

“It’s just a matter of doing what we can to try and get some better outcomes.”

Dooley currently runs 2350 ewes and rears 60 calves each year, on 250 ha.

“We’re starting to get a better picture of how things will be,” he said.

“Financially we will still be okay. But basically for a farm our size the bad weather has probably cost us $100,000 to $120,000 of lost potential income.”

Beef+Lamb NZ general manager, insights & strategic planning, Julian Ashby, said it was still too early to assess the overall impact of the weather event on lambing performance.

“Initial reports from farmers undertaking tailing are mixed, with some reporting results better than expected and others broadly in line with expectations. Despite the difficult conditions, there are encouraging signs."

Ashby said there were some ongoing concerns around ewe body condition following a prolonged period of limited feed availability and high lactation demand, as well as potential animal health impacts on lambs born in cold, wet conditions.

Feed management and rebuilding ewe condition would be important priorities for farmers over the coming months.

Ashby said it had been a challenging spring, with exceptionally wet and cold conditions throughout September coinciding with a critical period for lambing. Some areas experienced their highest September rainfall in decades, leaving ground conditions saturated and pasture covers declining on many farms.

“The good news is that conditions have improved in October, with pasture growth now accelerating rapidly. This is providing some welcome relief, particularly for later-lambing flocks in the hill and high country."