New Zealand floods: Dairy industry hit by record rainfall

New Zealand is being hit hard by another round of heavy rain, with fodder left to rot in paddocks. This is how farmers are faring.

New Zealand farmers are being hit with a second round of flooding in the space of a week as a tropical low hovers over the Auckland region.

The Coromandel Peninsula, east of Auckland, and the Waikato region, dairy territory south of NZ’s largest city, have been hardest hit with some districts inundated with more than 250 millimetres of rain in a matter of days.

Concerns have been raised about fodder shortages, with grass left to rot in paddocks as farmers struggle to access their fields.

DairyNZ farm performance general manager Sarah Speight said pockets of Northland, South Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty had received around 300mm in the past week.

“So far, the heavy rainfall and water then receding has damaged farm paddocks, crops, and infrastructure,” she said.

“Some farmers have lost fences, races, bridges, and face damage to feed supplies – either feed in storage or planted crops.”

Ms Speight said NZ farmers were adept at managing wet weather but added floods at this time of year were challenging, following “an incredibly wet winter and wet spring.”

“Rainfall is expected to ease, with only light rain forecast for the remainder of the week,” she said.

“Many flood-affected farmers will need support, such as feed budgeting assistance and additional advice to manage the weeks ahead and gradually return businesses back to business as usual, which will be challenging for some operations.”

Former Environmental Protection Agency chief scientist Jacqueline Rowarth said her farm in the Waikato region had been inundated by floodwaters over the weekend.

The Dairy NZ board member said fodder shortages were likely as farmers had restricted access to pastures due to the sodden conditions.

“We’ve had 220mm over the weekend (on my farm). It’s pretty dismal,” Dr Rowarth told Newstalk ZB.

“A lot of culverts around the place, including our farm, needed unblocking, so there were some pretty heroic efforts going on in terms of freeing water.

“There’s a lot of grass around and the challenge in the Waikato has been to harvest anything- to put it into silage or hay bales.”

Australia is a major exporter of dairy produce to New Zealand, with 22,922 tonnes sent eastwards across the Tasman last year.

New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, was hit with a historic amount of torrential rainfall on Friday, causing severe flooding which inundated roads and property across the city. (Photo by Fiona Goodall)

A Fonterra spokeswoman told The Weekly Times that NZ’s largest processor was still able to collect milk from properties across the country.

“Despite the widespread flooding, there’s been only minimal disruption to milk collection,” the spokeswoman said.

“We have generally been able to collect everything from around Auckland. The main issue has been to the east of Auckland, along the Coromandel Peninsula where flooding and road slips have made collections more difficult.

“However, we were still able to safely access most farms there and as of today we are able to collect milk from all farms across the country.”

NZ Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said the past month had been challenging for New Zealand’s farmers.

“I’ve been right through the country over the last month- from the downpours in the north to the dry in the south, in central Otago. It’s a mixed bag,” Mr O’Connor said.

“What we do have is global warming- an increase in temperature, more evaporation, more moisture in the atmosphere. It’s not easy; it’s challenging for a whole heap of people.”