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Strong finish not enough P17
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Monday, April 14, 2014
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Rain could cost farmers millions BY MICHELLE NELSON MICHELLE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Unprecedented weather conditions are casting a dire shadow over Mid Canterbury’s small seed harvest – forecasting a potential loss of millions of dollars for the district economy. By now significant inroads should have been made into the district’s high-value vegetable seed harvest; however the bulk of the crops are still in the paddocks. Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers grain and seed chairman David Clark said it had been a “shocking” season for arable farmers. “We’ve had wet harvests before but normally in a wet year you would expect the rainfall events would be punctuated by brief spells of nor’wests, so once every week or 10 days you might get a bit of a run at it for 24 hours – but we just haven’t seen that this harvest,” he said. “There seems to have been a complete reversal of our weather patterns. The weather is coming down from the north east continuously, and there has
just been an absolute absence of the normal nor’west southerly weather pattern that we would expect. “We went through all of March and well into April with absolutely no nor’westers, massive dews, high humidity and low cloud and fog, day after day after day; there are vegetable crops that are spoiling, sprouting in the row. “Farmers could well have $100,000, $200,000, $500,000 worth of crops sitting out there, this is a significant event and there seems to be no respite from it.” Unless conditions change, Mr Clark said much of the district’s lucrative small seed harvest, which includes carrot, silver and red beets, radish and rapeseed could be a write-off. “Whether a farmer gets the carrot seed harvested or not, and it meets specifications or not, is the difference between profit and loss for the year,” he said. “In an arable business the whole year comes down to getting the last crop.”
Lest We Forget A damp and chilly start to yesterday didn’t stop people of all ages – including Bella Robertson, 6, – from taking part in the Lest We Forget pre-Anzac Day memorial walk and run. $1100 RAISED
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