A drought, poor returns and high transport costs have compounded to leave Hurunui farmers scraping the barrel for feed, with animal welfare becoming a major concern.
North Canterbury Federated Farmers president Karl Dean says farmers in the district are doing it tough and morale is low – but tougher times could be ahead.
“I’m really concerned about what’s happening with farmers right now, but my biggest worry is that, if we get an adverse event on top of this current adverse event, we’re going to see major animal welfare issues.
“A lot of farmers are just on the borderline of getting through with their feed levels, which means they’ll be in serious trouble if we get six inches to a foot of snow.
“I don’t want to see an animal welfare disaster if there’s a big snowstorm.”
Dean says, apart from the lack of rain, the biggest challenge for farmers is the cost of bringing in supplementary feed.
“They can find feed to bring in, but the cost of getting it to farm is more than the stock are worth.
“If you’re going to spend more than the animals are worth, you might as well put them on the truck to the works, and even that is costly.
“Nobody has any money because of the economic conditions and low prices, and paying through the teeth for transport is just not an option for many farmers.”
Dean says some of the older farmers in the district are telling him this autumn feels very similar to autumn in 1973 and 1992, which saw some of the South Island’s largest record snowfalls.
“Those older guys who went through those events lost half their flock. They just got hammered.”
Hawarden sheep and beef farmer Dan Hodgen is reluctant to complain – pointing to farmers doing it tough in other parts of the country – but he admits the current conditions are as challenging as he’s seen in his 20 years’ farming.
He’s had only about 40mm of rain this year, including 17mm in March and 8mm in April.
“If it was just this dry, most people around here would handle it pretty well because we’re used to it,” he says.
“But an autumn drought running this long creates a few problems, and it’s those other factors like low lamb prices, high interest rates and rapidly rising expenses that take a lot of our options out.”
Hodgen says no one is doing it easy, but it’s particularly the local dryland farmers who are battling.
“In a normal drought like this, we’d potentially look to kill the bottom 10% of our ewes – and that will probably come in time – but whereas we might be getting $130-140 for them three years ago, now we’re looking at $65-70.”
The lack of rainfall means winter crops haven’t taken off, meaning Hodgen is yielding only three to four tonnes of fodder beet crops versus the usual 18 to 20 tonnes. Many grass and cereal crops are hardly even visible, he says.
Like other farmers in the district, he’s having to make some hard decisions.
“The writing was on the wall pretty early, so we sold store lambs instead of finishing them, and a lot of people here have done that, which is a big hit to income.
“I sold some steers and heifers the other day and, if I’d finished those like I do normally, I’d have got roughly another $20,000.”
He says he’s bought in barley, and other farmers are bringing in baleage, but it’s “bloody expensive” to get feed in.
“And as that supply gets further and further away, it gets more and more expensive.”
Hodgen says the situation is taking a toll on farmers’ mental health.
“It’s hard when you’re doing the mundane stuff – the same thing day in and day out – when the outlook for a positive economic return is dubious at best.
“Different people handle it differently. You’ve got to make sure you have good people around you and carry on with a bit of outside life, just for some clarity and balance.”
Ben Moore, who coordinates Federated Farmers’ Feed Coordination Service, has been fielding calls from a number of farmers in North Canterbury.
“That’s a mix of people needing feed and looking for grazing.
“From those calls, I’ve had five people ask to be contacted by the Rural Support Trust for help and advice.”
Moore is also concerned for farmers and animals in the district.
“They’re starting to scan ewes and when they find ewes with triplets, they’ll cull those ewes because they won’t be able to feed those triplets through winter.
“It’s getting to that stage where people are having to make very hard decisions.”
Moore encourages any farmers in need of feed or grazing, or who have feed or grazing to offer, to go to fedfarm.org.nz
Federated Farmers, New Zealand’s leading independent rural advocacy organisation, has established a news and insights partnership with AgriHQ, the country’s leading rural publisher, to give the farmers of New Zealand a more informed, united and stronger voice. Federated Farmers news and commentary appears each week in its own section of the Farmers Weekly print edition and online.
In Focus Podcast: Full Show | 31 May
We chat with 2024 Cawthron Freshwater Champion Rick Burke. Rick and his twin brother John have spent almost 30 years turning their Kati Kati farm into an environmental exemplar. Rick told Bryan about their journey and the importance their catchment group had in helping them.
Federated Farmers Southland president Jason Herrick also gives an update on how changes to immigration laws could be good for farmers.
And, senior reporters Richard Rennie and Neal Wallace join Bryan to talk about Fonterra’s latest milk price forecasts, the frustration at the slow progress of methane inhibitors through the regulatory system and the state of sheep and beef farmer finance.
