Vines are in leaf and vineyard workers are shoot thinning in Hawke's Bay while Tasman dairy herds are heading towards peak production but need more sun. Find out more about conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
A farmer on an Angus stud and finishing farm near Dargaville in Northland says it's the best spring he's had for a long long time, with 30 percent more rain than normal and 72 millimetres in the gauge overnight on Thursday.
Around Pukekohe, lower rainfall and mild gloomy periods prevailed this week. Crops are growing steadily and so are the weeds. New season's carrots and potatoes are now maturing and being harvested.
An asparagus grower in Waikato tells us cooler weather means asparagus is slow coming out of the ground this year. He's 50 percent down on normal, with only 80 tonnes harvested last month compared to well over 100 tonnes for September normally. There'll be plenty of asparagus to come though once warmer weather kicks in.
In Bay of Plenty the sun was out after 40 millimetres of rain on Friday morning and a farmer there was breathing a sigh of relief they weren't in lockdown. He could hear guns in the distance scaring birds away from newly broken buds on the kiwifruit orchards. On the dairy farm he's growing more feed than the cows can eat and he's slightly ahead of last year in milk production. Mating is due to start in a couple of weeks. This year the farmer will be using sexed semen to reduce the number of bobby calves born. It's dearer than normal artificial insemination but there's more money around this year. He's also looking at ways to improve carbon efficiency with the genetics being introduced to the herd.
Whitebaiters in Taranaki Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
It's been a lot warmer this week in Taranaki with daytime temperatures in the region of 17 to 19 degrees. Soil temperatures have certainly increased improving grass growth. But it's been wet especially in north and central Taranaki and overall the spring has been a bit of a struggle. Everyone's hanging out for some sun. Milk production is down by five to 10 percent.
An ag consultant says it's been great spring weather in the Gisborne region ... the rain last week has soaked in, it's been fine and warm and you can just about see the grass grow. Farmers are at various stages of docking and optimistic about numbers so far considering some were hit by storms early in lambing. They're pretty positive about the current market and outlook.
It's been damp and warm in Hawke's Bay and grass is growing at 100 miles an hour. Vines are in leaf and vineyard workers are shoot thinning to open up the canopy. The first sprays are going on to protect for powdery mildew. They're relieved there've been no frosts this week after quite a run keeping winegrowers on their toes and they appreciated seeing ni-Vanuatu RSE workers arriving down south. It means workers in the Bay aren't drawn away from the region.
A Manawatū farmer was moving cows around when we called getting them on to better feed. Thankfully, after the cool spring, there's been a warm northerly blowing over the past few days sending soil temperatures up and grass booming along. He's been docking this week ... it's a big job and the hardest bit is getting started. Tails are removed to prevent the build up of dags, male lambs are castrated and vaccinations given. It's also a chance for farmers to check survival rates. The farmer says his results are pretty good so far and that's probably why he's in a bit of a feed pinch because of the number of surviving multiples. He's been trying out the Beef and Lamb Greenhouse Gas Calculator to work out what he might have to pay for carbon emissions in future and he was surprised at the significant cost given the 70 hectares of regenerating native bush on his 270 hectare farm.
Wairarapa vines Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
It's finally warmed up in Wairarapa too. Patches of rain throughout the week have helped pasture move at last on a dairy farm in the south. Some farmers have had to get supplementary feed in from Hawke's bay because feed was getting tight. Vineyards are greening up and the frost fans have had a rest this week here too. Feed crops are going in and visitor numbers to the region have bounced up with the school holidays.
Across Cook Strait, the Tasman region has been overcast and has had 50 millimetres of rain that wasn't really needed. Growth is starting in earnest on the coast but it's a bit slower inland where it's cooler. Sheep farmers here are still into lambing too. Elsewhere they're tailing. Dairy herds are heading towards peak production but need more sun. So far only the odd day's been really nice.
In Marlborough our hill country farmer inland from Blenheim is completing tailing. He says survival throughout the province is a mixed bag. Earlier lambs were caught in storms but mid-cycle ones have survived well. He reckons, region-wide, tallies will be at least 10 percent back. Soil temperatures are now over 12 degrees at 10 centimetres so clover and grass is really starting to move and feed is just about keeping up with demand, having been quite tight for a while. It's growing at about 20 to 25 kilos of dry matter to the hectare a day so spring is looking beautifully set up at last. Forty seven millimetres of rain fell this week, now sunshine has been ordered for the lambs. On vineyard Sauvignon vines are starting to leaf up. Chardonnay and Pinot are well in leaf and sulphur sprays are going on to control any nasties.
On the West Coast it's been really wet. Our Karamea contact says he's doing as well as any other year but would like sun. Everyone's really, really wanting to see it to get grass growing and to dry out paddocks. It's too wet for tractors so groups of farmers are joining together and helicoptering nitrogen products on, something that will take two or three hours. By tractor it would be two or three days between other jobs. About 600 people live in the Karamea area. Recently consents have been issued for 17 sections … they're being bought site unseen. One had been on the market for a decade.
A good week of weather has finally got the grass moving in Canterbury, although feed remains tight and many are still feeding out, including some grain going to ewes and lambs. A farmer at Hororata has sent the last of his winter lambs to the works and he got a massive $244 per head average which he says is "amazing".
Central Otago Photo: Michael Godfrey
