Drought not broken by rain

Press, 1 May 1989, Page 6

Drought not broken by rain

Rainfall throughout Canterbury was yesterday welcomed by farmers, but was described as not being enough to break the drought. In North Canterbury 20mm fell over the weekend, while in South Canterbury between 30 and 50mm was recorded. The president of North Canterbury Federated Farmers, Mr Ness Wright, said the rain was an excellent start to breaking the drought, but not enough had fallen to make any real difference. Many farmers in Canterbury had destocked their farms because there was not enough feed. Rainfall of between 30mm and 50mm could mean South Canterbury farmers will be able to stop destocking their farms, according to the Federated Farmers branch president, Mr Don McFarlane. He said that the rain would be a great morale booster although he cautioned that one rainfall 'would not break the drought. A meteorologist at Lincoln College, Dr Neil Cherry, said the small amount of rain which fell in Canterbury would not restore soil moisture.

Dr Cherry said it was unlikely that there would be any significant grass growth as temperatures were dropping and it would take between six and nine weeks for the grass to grow.