A city-wide fire ban in Dunedin and the cessation of some irrigation consents in Southland are belated recognition that, while the focus on a hot summer has been on the drought-stricken regions of the north, the South has also been affected by dry conditions.
Another three North Island regions have been declared as being in drought, with little of the island spared, and the chances of a South Island region following have increased. Calls have been made for a drought to be officially declared on the West Coast to give farmers some relief from the driest summer since 1947.
With scant rain since the beginning of February, some farmers are having to sell stock. They are even more worried about how they will get through winter, as they have had to dip into their winter feed to supplement the dried-up pastures.
Finance Minister Bill English is warning the Government cannot go on indefinitely supporting farmers hurting because of the drought. He is calling for changes to farming practices, something already being undertaken by some.
Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills says the industry has been dealing with widely fluctuating weather for many years. In Hawkes Bay, where he farms, 2012 was the wettest year in 60 years, while this year is the driest in 70. Farmers are adaptive and there are measures they use to cope better with these weather conditions. These include more water storage, more trees, longer pasture cover and a more flexible stock mix. In the past five years, Mr Wills, for example, has build 60 water storage dams on his farm.
Dairy farmers, particularly those in the South Island, have the luxury of irrigation to boost their pastures and retain normal production levels. But river levels are falling fast throughout the South, and the Environment Southland restrictions on irrigation could quickly spread. And the less water sprayed through irrigators, the more concentrated the run-offs into waterways will become, raising the danger of higher pollution despite the best efforts of those involved.
Water is the lifeblood of an economy and the current drought conditions are a chance for the Government to make a statement about what it thinks is necessary to negate the future risks of a big dry. The likeihood, however, of the Government taking a lead in trying to change farming practices seems unlikely for a hands-off administration. But this is an area where officials can be instrumental in a step change for the economy. The drought is set to wipe about $1 billion off New Zealand's economy and is putting the Government's target of returning to surplus by 2014-15 in jeopardy.
In Australia, similar droughts have caused farmers to leave the dry land and head to the tropical north in an effort to find suitable agricultural land. Australia has a mining economy that has, in recent years, kept its economy growing apace. But New Zealand still relies on agriculture for its main export production and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. Mr English says the Government has research in place to find more drought-resistant grasses and he acknowledges that farmers have been adapting their farming practices. But there is more he can do. While not forcing farmers to change, encouragement through tax incentives could be effective.
One worry is, as always, that a drought followed by intensely heavy rain causes landslips, leaving deep scars in the hillsides. Hopefully, substantial rain does arrive later on Sunday and next Monday as is being predicted. Hopefully, it is steady and sustained rather than torrential.
This is the time to look to the long-term. Forty or more years ago, farmers catered for annual dry conditions by ensuring their lambs or cull ewes were sent to the works at the start of summer. Cattle farmers made sure there was plenty of feed available and dairy farmers were prepared to reduce milking to once a day. But times have changed and production is the key. Higher debt levels means higher stock numbers are carried, both in sheep, beef and dairy. With water such a precious resource, changing farming practices has become an important economic issue.
