Farmers and growers in parts of Northland are welcoming the first significant rain in the region for months.
Dry pasture in Dargaville Photo: RNZ / Lois Williams
Drought was formally declared across the region last week.
Eastern areas from Whangarei to Kerikeri had about 45 millimetres of rain overnight - enough to bring a green tinge to parched paddocks.
But only a few drops fell in the Far North, western and southern areas.
Northland Rural Support Trust corrdinator Julie Jonkers said even for the east, the rainfall was by no means a drought-breaker.
"It a nice pleasant release from all the heat we've been having over the last few days, but the wind is picking up again already and the clouds are going, and without really good significant follow-up rain we won't really see much of an improvement."
The trust was starting to hear from farmers running out of feed who could not find any to buy in Northland, Ms Jonkers said.
Farmers in the Far North and south of the province said they had 15mm of rain at most overnight.
Many expected production to be down 20 percent for the season.
