Rain helps some areas but others still dry

Press, 24 October 1980, Page 14

Rain helps some areas but others still dry

The possibility of a drought in many North Canterbury areas has been averted, at least in the meantime, by reasonable falls of rain during the last two weeks.

Until then many areas on the plains between Timaru and Cheviot had" been without significant rainfall since August. Irrigation has been working full time in many areas since the middle of September and districts without irrigation were looking distinctly dry. But unfortunately the rainfall was selective. While heavy falls were experienced in some areas others only received a token amount and serious feed shortages have become a real threat.

Broadly speaking, the districts needing rain are situated in a strip about 50 kilometres wide which runs from Banks Peninsula to South Canterbury. Coastal areas north of Christchurch received adequate rain during the last two weeks, but more is needed.

The dry period started in early September, was interrupted in a few areas by a .heavy thunderstorm on September 13, and continued unabated unfit October 14.

Since then and up until the middle of this week

between 14mm and 40mm had fallen in central and inland areas of Canterbury and coastal areas of North Canterbury. An example of how patchy the rainfall has been has occurred on Banks Peninsula. Eastern bays, such as Le Bons Bay, have received over 30mm during fhe last fortnight, but at Little River the rainfall has been virtually nil.

At the Winchmore research station near • Ashburton a total of 54.4 mm of rain had been recorded between October 9 and early this week. At Lake Coleridge and Hororata, during the same period, the rainfall recorded has been 25.6 mm and 32.4 mm respectively. At Christchurch airport since October 1,11 mm have been recorded.

Mr G, M.- McFadden, a senior farm advisory officer with the Ministry of Agriculture, Christchurch, said the areas that had received rain during the last fortnight now had a much improved feed situation, but more rain would be necessary.

But the situation on lighter land that had not received rain was quite different. Mr McFadden said it was doubtful if the feed supplies in these districts would catch up

enough for farmers to fatten lambs completely. There would be a lot of lambs sold either as stores or to the works in a very light condition, he said. ' . Judging by the way the light land, which received plenty of rain, responded to the- moisture there was still a chance for fanners in the Courtenay, Irwell, Te Pirita, Rakaia, Dunsadel and Kirwee districts if rain fell there within the next week or two. Farmers jn these areas depended on summer growth and they were being hif hard, Mr McFadden said.

Large numbers of ewes and lambs were in paddocks in the dry Canterbury districts, he said.