Rnz: On The Farm

The country's transformed in the past week from cruisy autumn to wet and cold. Kiwifruit harvesting still has a long way to go.

It is getting wet underfoot in Taranaki so farmers feel they have had enough rain. Rams in Marlborough have completed their work on hill country farms and sheep scanning is underway.

Warm weather has blessed the North Island this week, and while the South Island's generally been lovely too, the temperatures are dipping quickly down south.

Many North Island areas received good volumes of welcome rain last weekend, some dairy herds are being dried off and the South Island feijoas, apples and kiwifruit are filling Tasman's cool stores.

Many North Island areas are looking forward to forecast rain this weekend. Northern Southland's having a magnificent autumn.

The apple harvest is coming to an end in Hawke’s Bay and almost all the grapes are in. Early signs of winter appeared last weekend in Canterbury with a couple of light frosts. Farmers have been busy planting autumn wheat while ground conditions are dry.

Farmers across the country have been reaching for their winter woolies this week. The apple harvest in Hawkes Bay has only a couple of weeks to run. Weaning is underway in Marlborough. One farmer says calf weights are up 15 to 20 kilograms on last year.

Dry, mild weather with a stray shower or two prevailed this week in Pukekohe. Many vegetables are now in heavier supply and retail prices have eased. Canterbury is fully into autumn mode with all stock behind a wire and baleage being fed to slow the rotation length. Paddocks are being prepared for autumn sown cereal crops.

Grass is growing at a phenomenal rate in the North Island. Central Otago's hills are looking green and the flats below them even greener. In Southland winter crops are growing well and baleage has been spaced out in the crop paddocks ready for break-feeding a bit further down the track.

Many North Island regions are continuing to cut silage or baleage which is most unusual for this time of year. In the South Island wet weather's making harvesting of grapes in Marlborough very very challenging and it's halting apple picking around the Tasman district.

Taranaki's had some decent weather. Areas that were exceptionally dry until the end of February have had good rain but are still reasonably short of grass and both pasture and cow condition need to recover. A huge amount of silage and bailage is being made across Southland and summer crop paddocks are being worked up for winter grass.

Extremely heavy downpours of rain in the central North Island this week have resulted in massive slips, road blockages and power cuts. West Coast dairy farmers are starting to de-stock and pregnancy testing is past the half-way point. In South Otago meetings are taking place to discuss Mycoplasma bovis and on-farm biosecurity.

Weaner fairs are just starting in Northland and prices are expected to be on a par with last year. Waikato farmers are still making silage which is a rare occurrence for early March. More rain at the start of the week in Canterbury has been great for pasture and greenfeed growth, but continues to make harvesting crops very difficult.

Taranaki farmers have been mucking in together and sharing generators to get cows milked. There's cleaning up to do following damage from former cyclone Gita.

Hawkes Bay apple growers are flat out harvesting Royal Gala, which account for about 40 percent of regions apple crop. Plums are being picked and apple and pear harvesting is due to start soon in Central Otago.

The Gisborne region is flush with feed. Some Marlborough grape growers have been battling powdery mildew and botrytis thanks to unusually moist conditions.

East Coast cropping farmers are flat out. Sweetcorn is coming to an end, the first shipment of squash has left for Japan and brassica crops are maturing quickly. A storm on the West Coast has damaged crops, brought down trees and left a farmer in Hokitika without power in his milking shed.

Most of the North Island is looking surprisingly green, Marlborough is too but farms at the bottom of the South Island are experiencing drought-like conditions

There will be no asparagus on the Christmas dinner table in Horowhenua - moisture stress has left the plants tired and sad. Most people have completed the final wire lift in vineyards across the top of the South Island and are into leaf plucking and foliage spraying.

Most of the North Island hoped in vain for passing thunder storms to drop rain this week, but only Gisborne, parts of Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa were lucky. In the South Island rain did fall in Canterbury but for many it was too little too late. Even the West Coast held a pre-drought meeting this week.