Some Districts Hard Hit By Drought Again

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29714, 6 January 1962, Page 6

Some Districts Hard Hit By Drought Again

Many Canterbury and Marlborough farmers consider that they have had more than their fair share of dry seasons. For a good many, three of the last four seasons have been unduly dry, and for some all of the last four seasons have been dry.

Take, for instance, the case of a farmer on the Wither Hills behind Blenheim. His annual rainfalls for the last four years have been:— 1958, 16in: 1959, 18in; 1960, 18}in; 1961, 21.75 in, including 4.75 in in one day last January. In none of those years did the fall reach the district average of 231 in.

The last three months of the old year have been a period of intense dryness on many properties in th two provinces. It has often been said recently that dry conditions developed earlier this season than in earlier droughts. This is true in a sense, but it is also true that in 1958 it was dry ali winter through to the spring and summer. Over most of the area last winter rainfall was well above normal, and as late as September the weather remained cold and wet. Everything seemed set for a good, if somewhat belated. spring growth when the weather took up, but conditions went from one extreme to another almost overnight, with little or no rain in October and high temperatures. Dry October The Wither Hills property had five points of rain in October, and nearby Blenheim had 9 points. At Wharanui, on the northern Kaikoura coastline, there was 7 points. Pendarves, in coastal Mid-Canterbury, had 35 points, and even Methven, in the shadow of the Alps, had only 43 points. The result was little or no spring growth. The rain that has fallen since has not given much relief because of the high temperatures. The result is that areas like Raoaura. Renwick, Omaka. the Wither Hills, and Oxford have recently been as dry as they have ever been. Pastures are white and bare again. Droppings, stones and the inevitable thistles are often the only things above ground level. The hills are brown and parched, showing through to the grey of the earth. One of the districts least affected by droughts, on the basis of a journey of 600 miles through Canterbury and Marlborough last weekend was Methven. There may, however, be other areas just as little affected by drought and others that are as dry as those that have been mentioned. It seems fairly certain that the combined effects of lower prices for lamb and lower yields of crops, while costs

are still at high levels, will affect farmers’ financial returns seriously. This is how drought and lower prices will affect one farmer on an averagesized farm in the province. He expects that his return from lambs this season will be down by £750. A poor stunted crop of wheat this year will return him about £6OO ’.ss than last year off the same acreage, and he will not collect any of the £5OO from small seeds that he produced last year. Assuming that his wool gives the same overall return as last year his takings will be down not far short of £2OOO. Farmers of the two provinces are now fairly drought-conscious, and it is noticeable that this season, with early lambing and deep draftings to take the light and most profitable iambs, most farmers, even in the driest areas, are left with relatively few lambs still to fatten. None of these farmers particularly relishes the prospect of having to sell lambs on the store market in the New Year. Fewer Stork In Marlborough, in particular. after the procession of droughts it also seems that farmers have slightly reduced their stock numbers, and this has made recent dry conditions somewhat less acute than they were three years ago. There are clear indications that many light cereal crops will be harvested in the two provinces this season. In the driest areas farmers are talking of their wheat yields being down by a half on average. For them yields of 20 bushels to the acre and less seem likely. Just now, while temperatures are remaining high, farmers in Marlborough do not want, light falls of' rain that have no lasting effect. They say that limited falls could germinate subterranean clover seedlings, which may be killed by the subsequent heat so that they will not be there to spring

forth when the autumn rains come. These autumn rains will be needed. They could do a great deal to rectify the damage to pastures of the persistent drought. Without them the winter feed outlook will be grave indeed. Some farmers have made no hay as yet and others only a fraction of a normal year. In Marlborough there is talk now of good lucerne hay at 8s to 10s a bale, standing lucerne at 6s to 7s a bale, ryegrass straw’ at 2s 9d to 3s a bale and pea straw at 6s to 7s a bale off the viner.