Drought In North Otago, South Canterbury

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 8

Drought In North Otago, South Canterbury

North Otago is traditionally a dry area climatically, but local farmers find it hard to believe that the present drought, which has been going on for more than four years, has been able to persist so long.

Local rainfall figures quoted this week by Mr J. M. Lockhart, farm advisory officer of the Department of Agriculture in Oamaru, certainly underline the length and severity of the North Otago visitation—l 964, 11.21 inches; 1965, 18.76 inches; 1966, 16.95 inches; and 1967, 16.18 inches.

“It is normal practice for farmers to carry one year’s reserve of hay but they cannot be expected to cope with four years of drought,” Mr Lockhart commented this week. Unhappily the North Otago drought has spilled over Into the southern part of Canterbury and Waimate county, Levels county and the Mackenzie county east of about Albury are badly affected. The rainfall in Waimate last year was 20-21 inches. An unofficial reading at Morven put the yearly fall at only 14 inches.

Mr 3. L. Symons, farm advisory officer of the Department of Agriculture at Waimate, said this week that old timers had referred to the drought .conditions which had existed in the southern part of the Waimate county since last autumn as the worst in living memory. In South Canterbury, particularly along the coast, the position had been intensifying over the last three years, Mr R. C. Schofield, senior farm advisory officer with the department in Timaru, said this week, and it was his estimation that in that period they were one year short of normal rainfall. Early this week Mr Lockhart said that the position in North Otago was as bad as it had ever been. He said that they knew of about 90,000 sheep having been sent off farms to outside grazing. Some of these have been sent as far away as 250 miles, to areas including west Otago and also Canterbury. Strangely enough the district west of Kurow and including Omarama, quite close to the drought area, has been having an excellent season and consequently has taken a lot of the North Otago stock. A recent survey of transport firms in the Waimate county showed that 80,000 head of stock had been moved out of the district. Mr Symons said that he regarded this as a conservative figure and stock were still going out. They have been moved to areas including Fairlie and Ashburton, but now even in some of the more favoured

localities surplus feed is running out and one farmer from the drought district with stock in Ashburton county is faced with this predicament. A large number of South Canterbury farmers are reported to have all their stock away from their farms. Sheep were also seen out this week grazing the roadsides. About 150,000 bales of hay have been brought into the Waimate county from Ashburton, Central Otago (also enjoying a good growing season) and the Fairlie districts, and threshed ryegrass straw, mainly for cattle, is now also being brought in, particularly from the Ashburton district. Mr Symons said that local farmers were most grateful for the consideration that they had received from their colleagues in the more favoured areas, who had offered straw for as low as 5c a bale on the paddock, and Mr Schofield said that offers had been made on the basis of the purchaser just having to pay for the baling. In North Otago, when coupled with difficult economic conditions, the drought has reached serious propor tions for many fanners.

Mr Lockhart said this week that in the last few years farmers had been buying in feed for stock in the hope that conditions would improve, but now they had reached the position where they could not afford to buy any more. And farmers have been reducing their stock numbers.

The outlook for feed for the coming winter has lately been very poor, with no hay made except on irrigated country and insufficient moisture in the ground for feed crops. According to one authority close to the farming industry farmers in the worst-hit drought areas will be unable to make ends meet on the basis of present prices and costs and will be living on overdrafts or on their savings.

It was not economic at present prices, he said, to buy in feed for stock or to send them out to grazing. He knew of men who had recently spent $2OOO and $l4OO in this way, and unless conditions improved, he said, it was possible that stock out on grazing would not be able to return. This man said that if the Cabinet were to stand by earlier statements that the the last thing that it wanted was to see farmers have to cut down their capital stock, then the Government would have to help farmers to find feed and also help to pay for it. Otherwise, he said, the prospects were for a fall in production. He cited the case of a man who had bought in replacement stock last season only to have also to buy in feed to sustain them. Under these conditions this man, who already had reduced his stock numbers by 25 per cent, was planning not to buy any replacement ewes this coming season. Also after four years of drought the clover content of pastures has dropped markedly or disappeared and farmers in this area and also in South Canterbury are faced with a big pasture renewal programme. The North Otago man said this was again a financial impossibility for farmers in this district and if it was desired that farmers retain their capital stock they would need assistance in regrassing. The .same man said that he was concerned about what was going to happen in Hie next year. It was likely that unless things changed ail of the land that would be producing poor crops of wheat this year would again be put to wheat, as would extra paddocks as Well and if there was surplus production of wheat in the country this extra North Otago wheat could be a headache to dispose of and could upset the situation for genuine wheat growers. Another aspect of the North Otago drought has been the effect on the teeth of sheep that have been seeking sustenance on bare ground. One man who carries about 800 ewes and buys in replacements as two-tooths has had to put out about 400 ewes this year because of the wear on teeth. It is hoped that the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Talboys) will soon visit the district to see and hear at first hand about the plight of farmers in the region. Mr Lockhart said that as usual in droughts some farm-

ers had fared better than others and people who had been able to switch to cropping were better off, though yields had been well below expectations, and this season, because of drying off, yields would be below expectations of even two months ago. In the drought-stricken part of South Canterbury, Mr Symons said, several dry autumns in recent years had meant that pastures had gone into the winter in a droughtlike condition so that they did not subsequently get going well. “We have forgotten what autumn-saved pasture is,” he commented. “We get people to shut up their pastures but little happens.” This season, too, he said, there had been a spate of winds all through the spring and old timers in the district said that they had never known a winter, spring and summer like it. Mr Symons and Mr Schofield agreed that big stocking rates in the area had accentuated the difficulties of farmers. Between 1965 and 1966 sheep numbers in Waimate county had increased by 5.31 per cent and ewe numbers by 6.55 per cent, said Mr Symons, and by June, 1967, sheep numbers had gone up another 1.82 per cent and ewe numbers by 1.07 per cent. The latest figure for sheep is 1,163,000, including 833,000 ewes.

In the last year, Mr Schofield said, there had been a 3 per cent increase in ewes in South Canterbury. If account was also taken of the increases in cattle and in the area under crops, and this was converted to ewe equivalents, this represented an increase of 4.7 to 5 per cent. “That indicates that in spite of the drought period South Canterbury farmers have made this response, and that this has been done in one of the driest times on record has

created one of the biggest problems.” As in North Otago, Mr Schofield emphasised that a major programme of pasture renewal would be required when conditions returned to normal if stock numbers were to be maintained. As pastures had opened up, he said, there had been an increasing incidence of barley grass and this was showing up on roadsides and in paddocks, so that barley grass had become the major weed problem of the district. A freezing company, which processes lamb pelts from its two works in Canterbury in the one department at Its North Canterbury works, reported this week that in a most recent period the percentage of pelts classified as seedy had been about 30 per cent. The running percentage of seedy pelts for the season has lately been about 12 per cent. Where pelts are so badly damaged by barley grass seeds that they look like a virtual pin cushion they are worthless. Crops on which farmers in the drought-affected South Canterbup' districts have been relying to boost their reduced incomes, also seem likely to be disappointing. Mr Schofield said that crops harvested early on the downlands had yielded as low as 12 to 22 bushels where they had a potential of 45 to 65 bushels to the acre. An odd crop has been abandoned, but as far as is known there are not many of these. A crop seen this week on some of the best land in the district, at Willowbridge, is estimated to yield 20 bushels to the acre. It is Gamenya sown at the beginning of August. It is on land which generally yields 65 to 70 bushels to the acre and over the road on a neighbouring property wheat averaged 107 bushels to the acre two years ago. J One thing that seems cer-

tain is that a good deal of shrivelled grain will be produced by some of these drought-affected crops. Farmers will also get little this season from small seeds. The area closed for harvest is strictly limited. Water for stock has also been a problem in the drought area and in the Waikakahi area, near Waimate, where farmers depend on dams and springs, there is a water shortage and water has had to be carted for stock. A farmer in this area estimated that in extra costs and In loss of production the last year’s drought would have cost him the best part of $4OOO. Mr Schofield says that there would be many others In a similar position. The smaller farmers have been the worst hit by the conditions, both in North Otago and South Canterbury, and the comment was heard this week that it was further evidence that the day of the small farmer was nearing an end. In North Otago some amalgamation of smaller holdings has been carried , out and this is continuing, although slowly, of course. Some of these small farmers have been forced to go out to work in both areas. Some have taken jobs at freezing works and others are believed to have taken jobs on the wharves at Oamaru and in the town. In North Otago even the larger farms, normally regarded as economic units, have been having a difficult time.