Scott Contracting owner Owen Scott said pastures were still trying to bounce back from September’s saturation.
The season was running about a month later than normal, with many farmers only starting into their second cut of the season now, he said.
"The pastures themselves have had a hammering all winter ... they just hadn’t had a chance to dry out.
"Not only the dairy boys, but even sheep farmers have had trouble with pastures holding up.
"So it’s been tough on man, beast and pasture."
He believed the slow start would have a domino effect for winter.
"We’re not going to have enough winter supplements made for this winter. So I can see there being a shortfall of available feed.
"The extra baleage just isn’t available out there at the moment."
Many farmers had used reserves from the past two years to feed stock during September’s wet and the latest paddock yields were lower than normal.
Farmers expected highs and lows most seasons and generally managed to work with what nature handed them.
"But if it goes dry, we’re going to be in trouble, but a week of sun and then a week of rain, things will be OK."
Most farmers already had their winter swede and kale crops sown.
Federated Farmers Southland vice-president Kass Rauber said the wet spring had delayed the Southland farming calendar and put baleage production running late.
"We’re sitting at approximately 30% less grass grown this season than our previous average."
Pugging had caused more damage to paddocks than usual.
"There’s definitely a lot more going on in that area than what’s ever gone before.
"Previously you might have one or two paddocks that you may have damaged."
But many farmers would be unable to repair all of the damage and opt to do "a little bit of a fix up job" in the meantime.
"Our last paddock of crop was planted yesterday, when we would generally have all our crops planted by November at the latest.
"People are being more strategic on what they plant now.
"You can’t plant crops on wet ground — they won’t grow, seed will rot."
The wet had also produced more weed growth than normal.
It could take up to two years for farmers to re-establish the feed buffer they kept on the farm.
He believed good supplies of baleage were available from the Central Otago region and straw would be available from autumn.
"Despite the payouts looking good, there’s still a lot of costs out there with farming and there’s a lot of damage to repair from the spring."
Feed quality also affected animal reproduction rates.
He had culled about 10% of his herd before mating as a preservation measure.
He believed farmers would be careful with their spending until they recovered from spring’s additional expenses.
Beef + Lamb NZ said in its new season outlook for the year ending September 2025, the number of lambs nationally processed for export was forecast to decrease 6.9%, or 1.2 million, to 16.8 million.
By Toni McDonald
