Rain welcomed - but drought not over yet

TE AWAMUTU Federated Farmers chairman Kees Rombouts is happy to see 24mm of water in his gauge from Monday and Tuesday’s rain - but says more is needed before the drought will be over. 094081AD

By Dean Taylor

While most of the region received a healthy dose of rain on Monday and Tuesday, it won’t be enough to officially end Waikato’s drought.

Te Awamutu Federated Farmers chairman Kees Rombouts was pretty happy with 24mm of rain in his gauge for the 24 hours until lunchtime Tuesday. But on his home farm, which includes peat land, the herd has already been dried off.

The Rombouts Orini farm is doing better and milking is still twice a day. Mr Rombouts says the steady rain, with a couple of good showers, was ideal and will certainly help stimulate grass growth. With no wind and overcast conditions the rain has a chance to soak in. More rain right now would be ideal.

He says the next problem for many farmers will be facial eczema, and while farmers should already have treated their animals, it is not too late for those who haven’t.

It has been a difficult season for dairy farmers in the Waikato. Mr Rombouts says a cold spring means silage manufacturing was down by half or more. The drought that followed has put a lot of pressure on cow health. He says the problem has been compounded somewhat by the preceding good years, which had encouraged farmers to increase stock rates in search of increased production.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Te Awamutu Federated Farmers hold their AGM tonight, and Mr Rombouts will be taking the chance to air a couple of concerns that have arisen due to the drought. In particular he says some producers and suppliers have been profiteering from the misfortunes of those worst affected by the drought.

Mr Rombouts says the Te Awamutu branch of Federated Farmers has displayed generosity in the past when farmers in other regions needed assistance, including such projects as members donating feed and the branch paying for transport.

In the current climate Mr Rombouts says feed prices are high, cartage is high and some suppliers are breaking promises and selling to the highest bidder. He says it is too cutthroat and people within the industry should be helping each other in such times for the benefit of the industry.

FINE WEATHER RETURNS

NIWA is predicting the fine weather that has returned will stay for a few more days yet and drought breaking rain is not expected until May. However, they say with April days being shorter and cooler, any rain will be beneficial because there is less evaporation loss. And on the positive side, warmer conditions when it does rain will stimulate grass growth.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Te Awamutu’s unofficial weather statistician Paul Hobbs recorded just 24mm of rain for the whole of March. He says there was just one ‘wet day’ - 10mm or more of rain. The average for the past 18 years is 85mm of rain and seven wet days.

That comes on top of just 45.5mm of rain in February and 18.5mm in January - 88mm in three months or about one third of the average. The next driest January - March on his records was 1993 (110mm).

Mr Hobbs applied his statistical expertise to his records and says the number of wet days over the past four months suggests the drought is a one-in-130 year event.