DAIRY NEWS JULY 26, 2016
30 // CALVING
Heavy rain and cold winds on the cards – Metservice PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
WILD,STORMY WEATHER is likely to
grip the country as calving gets underway in earnest, says a meteorologist. Georgina Griffiths, Metservice, says the next two weeks look changeable with a drop in temperature, rain and cold winds on the cards.
wind-chill will be a factor. The weather is going to be very changeable so farmers must check the weather forecasts daily.... Southland stands out as a region for wind-chill. So farmers are going to get difficult weather in the next few weeks -- just when they don’t need it.” Griffiths predicts temperatures will show an ‘amplified’ response – large swings in
The seasons are running late and August may be the coldest month this winter. She predicts heavy rain in the next four weeks for Taranaki and Southland, the latter also likely to get cold southerly winds and snow to low levels. August can be a mixed-up month for weather, she says. “From a calving and lambing point of view it’s going to be windy, so
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temperatures every few days – hence the need for farmers to follow the forecasts closely. “It also looks on the wet side for the central and western North Island from Taupo to Wellington, and for Wairarapa in the next four weeks. Gisborne and Hawkes Bay look on the drier side for the same period. In all other regions, near
The weather will be a challenge this claving season.
normal rainfall totals are predicted in the next four weeks.” In Waikato, near normal rainfall totals are signaled for the next four weeks but temperatures will be very changeable in the next ten days then run
average-to-cooler at the start of August. Gisborne rainfall will be below normal for the next month; temperatures will be very changeable for the next ten days and then run a touch cooler at the start
of August. New Zealand has seen these conditions before, notably last November when it was very cold, Griffiths says. “We have a very active Tasman Sea and a volatile Southern Ocean.”
Look after each other PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
DAIRYNZ IS encouraging farmers
to look out for neighbours and friends as financial pressures persist into the new season. Andrew Reid, DairyNZ general manager extension, cites this concern as calving gets into full swing and farmers face another season of uncertainty over the milk price. This pressure is on top of the normal challenges of calving. He says it’s important that farmers support each other and where possible get off farm and also check their neighbours. DairyNZ staff report some calves have dropped and most farms have a reasonable supply of feed, Reid says. “It’s been a reasonably favourable growing season for pasture over the last couple of
months with just a few frosts hitting in the last couple of weeks or so. But in general terms pasture growth has been pretty favourable for farms for the new season.” But some farmers in Taranaki, lower North Island and some Waikato regions have cows suffering ongoing effects of facial eczema. “We have reports from Taranaki of quite a lot of FE --clinical and sub-clinical cases. So there will be a carry-over effect into spring for some of these farmers.” On the positive side, farmers have culled their herds and are modifying their management and working to get the best from pasture instead of buying a lot of supplementary feed. Reid says this change appears to be a direct response to the ‘pasture first principles’ DairyNZ promoted in autumn. “The autumn initiative gave confidence back to farmers who had
become very reliant on imported feed to support their production targets. [So] rather than production being the focus, the main driver now for farmers is profitability -- realising that producing more doesn’t mean you are more profitable. They are also realising pasture and its management is the foundation principle of a profitable farm.” Reid describes the mood of farmers as cautiously optimistic and resolved to get through the season. Farmers know they are not out of the woods yet and the turnaround will not be fast. “Farmers know what they are dealing with and they can implement plans with a bit more certainty.” Cow condition around the country is typical for this time in the season. The weather remains an unknown.
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