Newborn lambs perish in wet

Press, 25 August 1986, Page 1

Newborn lambs perish in wet

By

LEE MATTHEWS

It was a week-end of stock losses and road slips in a rain-soaked Canterbury. The rain coincided with lambing in coastal areas of Canterbury, and although it was too early to have firm figures last evening lamb losses were estimated at up to 10 per cent.

The president of North Canterbury Federated Farmers, Mr Michael Murchison, said lamb losses on the plains and

Banks Peninsula would be serious.

A Mid-Canterbury farmer, Mr Lynn Kingsbury, of Dorie, said he would probably lose about 250 lambs because of the rain.

“We are right in the middle of. lambing, and we had just on four inches (100 mm of rain,” he said. "Any lambs born on Saturday were wiped out and weaker lambs born earlier also died.”

Fortunately for fanners

it was not excessively cold while it was raining. Colder weather would have meant more lamb losses.

“It is bad news for farmers, but unfortunately we can’t blame Roger Douglas for the weather,” Mr Kingsbury quipped. The president of MidCanterbury Federated Farmers, Mr Brian Lili, said the rain was bad news for cropping farmers on heavier soils as well as farmers in the thick of lambing.

“Any seed not through the ground before the rain is at risk of being lost through rot,” he said. Roads in Canterbury were closed by slips and flooding on Saturday but had been reopened last evening. The chairman of the Wairewa County’ Council, Mr Bill Thompson, said staff worked for several hours yesterday shifting shingle to reopen Lake Forsyth so that floodwaters on State highway 75

near Birdlihgs Flat could drain away. Slips and water to a depth of 15cm had cut this road in places along a four-kilometre stretch, he said. The Selwyn River burst its banks and cut State highway 1 south of Christchurch for the fourth time this year, said the Ministry of Works and Development’s regional engineer in Christchurch, Mr J. O. Ballantyne. Water covered the road to a depth of 30cm, but a

detour was available downstream, he said. State highway 7 west of Hanmer Springs had been reduced to a one-way road because of slips, and slips had affected State highway 1 north of the Conway River. The Meteorological Service in Christchurch said 50.5 mm of rain had been recorded at Christchurch Airport on the three days up to 9 a.m. yesterday. At Akaroa, 125 mm fell from Friday to yesterday.