Seeds sought as flood aid

Press, 3 August 1985, Page 2

Seeds sought as flood aid

North Canterbury farmers will be asked to consider giving money or seeds to flood-affected Gisborne farmers to help with a huge job of repasturing. A Ministry of Agriculture computer in Gisborne has estimated that last weekend’s rainstorm cut effective grazing land in the district 15 to 20 per cent. Gisborne farmers next year will face an average drop of 22 per cent of gross income through lost production.

Some hill-country farms lost much more than 20 per cent of their pastures as the torrential rain carried away whole hillsides, exposing clay faces and dumping soil in gullies and rivers. The chairman of the agriculture section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers, Mr Bill Thompson, told members of his executive yesterday to raise at their next branch meetings the question of aid to Gisborne > farmers. Canterbury is the main production area for all types of agricultural seeds, particularly white clover and ryegrasses. Many arable farmers harvest and store these seeds, waiting for the best local or export price. Mr Thompson said it had been suggested that the flood-affected farmers could need 250 tonnes of white clover seed. He asked all local farmers to consider how best they might help those who faced huge costs because of the storm.