Mixed bag around country for 2017

So far, the season for rural contractors everywhere can best be described as a mixed bag.

Many South Island contractors have had “a season out of the box” with good silage, hay and baleage crops made so far this summer. I understand grass growth in the South Island has been “amazing” and keeping contractors busy making silage.

It is a different story in the North Island where, generally, harvests have been later and patchier. Weather during spring and early summer in the north have generally been colder, wetter and windier than usual.

In the lower and central North Island, lots of grass has been harvested during the recent fine weather. Much of this is destined for sale in the dairy farming areas of Waikato and Taranaki, although with the big drop in cow numbers demand may be less than before the dairy payout dropped. And blustery winds have made things frustrating as they blow the hay out of its rows.

Inclement weather in the South Island has seen many contractors fall behind. Let’s hope some good weather over the next few weeks will help speed up hay and silage making and crop harvesting.

Unfortunately, in the north of the North Island – including where I am based in Northland – it has been very dry, which may be good for harvesting but not so good for grass growth. Drought is a reality in many parts and a lot of water has been carted in the north to fill up dry water tanks. Even if we get rain, any chance of making hay is probably over for this season. We can only hope that a good autumn will set the region up for a better winter and spring.

Meanwhile, the recent death of farmer in the Hakataramea Valley in a hay baling accident is a stark reminder to all contractors and farmers about the importance of safety, especially at this busy time of year. I was saddened by news of the accident and offer, on behalf of Rural Contractors NZ, my sympathy to the young man’s family. This tragedy followed another recent incident where a farm worker from Fairlie was injured while working with a hay bale wrapper. Fortunately, in this latter incident, the worker was not seriously injured.

However, these incidents are a reminder of the caution we as contractors and our staff should be taking during busy times of the year. Health and safety must be at the fore, particularly when tight timeframes and impending bad weather are thrown into the mix.

Many of us have been in situations where an envelope of good weather may be closing and we are keen to get a job finished, but this must never be at the expense of safety. We work in an industry where there is always risk of injury and harm, but we need to ensure these are minimised to ensure our own or our workers’ safety.

RCNZ, as an organisation, promotes health and safety vigilance through the year as a key role.

If you want further information on this go to our website: www.ruralcontractors.org.nz

In the meantime, I hope the weather treats you well as you hit the busy part of the year, but please always keep your own and your workers’ safety top of mind.

• Wellsford-based agricultural contractor Steve Levet is the president of the Rural Contractors New Zealand (RCNZ).