New-born lambs die in snow

Press, 27 September 1983, Page 1

New-born lambs die in snow

Lamb losses in Canterbury after the rain and snow on Sunday and yesterday are expected to be only moderate provided the weather eases as expected today. Properties on the downs and low foothills were right in the middle of lambing at the moment and in those areas there had been “quite a number” of reports that virtually all the lambs born in the 36 hours to last evening had died, said Mr Grant McFadden, a senior advisory officer in the Ministry of Agriculture in Christchurch. There had been a few ewe losses too, he said. “But at this stage losses are moderate and we trust that the weather is going to stabilise now.” Mr McFadden said that it would only be speculating to put a figure on the losses. The weather yesterday was wet and cold with driving rain and sleet. There had been snow in the gorge areas of the Mackenzie, Rangitata, and Rakaia but the snow had receded as it began to rain. The wind and the rain appeared to be easing last evening. Mid-Canterbury farmers were feeding hay to their stock yesterday and counting lambing losses after snowfalls of up to 67cm recorded on Sunday. The worst affected were farmers in the foothills who are in the middle of lambing. A meeting of Federated Farmers’ Foothills branch, which was to have been held last evening, was cancelled because farmers were expected to be busy. South Canterbury farmers can expect 30 to 50 per cent losses among new-born lambs, according to the act-

ing senior farm adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture at Timaru, Mr D. B. Binnie. These losses will come hard on the heels of up to 30 per cent losses experienced by farmers in coastal areas a fortnight ago. The cold weather which hit much of the South Island on Sunday is expected to continue for another two days, putting pressure on farmers in the middle of the lambing season.

The Weather Office in Wellington said the cold weather, caused by a wedge of cold air lodging between two air masses, would continue over most of the South Island, although missing the West Coast. The blocked road into Milford Sound has led to the Tourist Hotel Corporation’s shipping supplies from Westport.

The Mitre Peak, a vessel usually engaged in tourist cruises in Milford Sound will leave Westport to take perishable stores into the storm-battered area - immediately the weather clears.

A corporation representative, Mr Lester Sowerby, said the Corporation at Te Anau had arranged for supplies to be available for loading this morning.

Mr Sowerby said the Mitre Peak had arrived on Sunday night from Nelson after survey work. The voyage from Westport to Milford Sound was expected to take about 26 hours.

The Te Anau police said conditions in the area were very bad on Sunday night, with fresh snow and rain adding to the avalanche danger.

The road to Milford Sound would be closed for at least another two or three days, the police said.