Predictions of another El Nino weather pattern have got Hawke's Bay farmers preparing for a fourth consecutive year of drought.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) says the pattern is already developing, although the effects are currently very weak.
The institute says it is likely to bring dry weather to eastern parts of the country, especially as it intensifies over late spring and into early summer.
While it is not clear how ugly things will get, Hawke's Bay farmer Bruce Wills says conditions are worryingly dry for this time of year.
Given the battering the region's farmers have taken over the past three years, he says, "There's an air of caution and nervousness coming into this spring/summer period. Farmers I talk to are farming pretty conservatively."
NIWA says the El Nino is likely to last into the first quarter of next year.
