Rain has provided some relief to farmers in parched areas of Canterbury, where low soil moisture levels have raised fears of drought.
Federated Farmers mid-Canterbury president Michael Morrow said his farm had about 10mm of rainfall on Tuesday.
Mr Morrow said more rain will be needed to ease the prolonged dry spell for farmers.
Meanwhile, the Hawkes Bay Regional Council has lifted irrigation bans on the Waipawa River and the Papanui stream, thanks to recent rain.
But the council is warning these measures are likely to be temporary.
Earlier, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research said some areas still recovering from last summer's drought are in serious soil moisture deficit once again.
A NIWA agricultural climatologist Alan Porteous said mid-Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and inland Otago are among the driest regions and Waikato is also drier than it should be.
He said the chances of recovering from that moisture shortage in the summer are not looking good.
Mr Porteous said rainfall over the past month has been less than 50% of normal levels in many areas and less than 30% or even 20% in much of the east coast.
Mr Porteous said even though average rainfall is predicted over much of the country this summer, more than normal rainfall is needed to get soil moisture levels and pasture production back to the normal expected levels.
He says there is only a 20% - 30% chance of rainfall above normal levels.
