The rain expected to fall across Otago today will again be hit and miss for the region's farmers, some of whom still have parched pasture covering their farms despite several days of cool, wet weather.
MetService communications meteorologist Lisa Murray said there was a chance of occasional rain again across Otago as a rain band moved across the region today.
Rain could be heavy in "a few places'' this afternoon and in coastal areas of North Otago and Canterbury there was a chance of a thunderstorm.
"It's not one big band across the whole region and it kind of comes and goes throughout the day as it moves over the region,'' she said.
The low pressure system crossing the country today, which would remain for most of the day, would ease off overnight, "and then the next day is pretty dry''.
North Otago Federated Farmers dairy chairman Lyndon Strang, who farms at the top of the Kakanui River in North Otago, said difficult conditions for farmers were not felt evenly across the province this summer.
"Around Otago ... it's very sporadic,'' he said.
"Some parts of Otago are looking quite good, and some parts are looking absolutely dire.''
Mr Strang said while he could not speak for farmers in other areas of Otago, in his corner of North Otago, despite the 70% restriction he faced drawing irrigation water from the Kakanui River, the summer had not been extreme "at this stage''.
"The guys in Central Otago are doing it very, very tough. Wanaka, Upper Clutha, they're doing it very hard. It's very dry over there.''
Semi-retired Ida Valley sheep and beef farmer Ken Gillespie, of Oturehua, said the recent rain was "just what the doctor ordered''.
"We received about an inch (25mm) last week, but one rain will just get you wet. It's that second rain where things really start growing,'' he said.
Nearby farmers were also welcoming wet weather, he said. Around Gimmerburn, it had been "like a desert'' but now farmers were beginning to see "spots of green''.
Federated Farmers Otago provincial president Phill Hunt said the roughly 15mm he had received in Wanaka yesterday and over the weekend was "certainly a great start'', but already a lot of people had been de-stocking.
"We were ‘end of summer dry' in December,'' he said.
"We've had good recent rain over the weekend and again this morning, which is a great relief to a lot of people.''
At the other end of the scale, in December Peter Mitchell's Weston farm received 87mm.
"But then it dried out again, obviously, and we were struggling again,'' Mr Mitchell said.
He said there had been a good amount of rain for crops over the past several days and he was now ready for sunshine.
A shower yesterday afternoon brought a welcome 7mm to his farm, and with 17mm on Friday, plus Saturday and Sunday's drizzle, which amounted to 5mm, Mr Mitchell was in an entirely different situation to some Otago farmers, as he had received nearly 30mm in total.
Mr Strang said the rain over the past several days in parts of North Otago was "very very timely'' for winter crops planted before Christmas.
"There wouldn't be many farmers that aren't smiling at the moment in North Otago.''
But, he said, farmers in North Otago who had seen rain in January would remain concerned for their counterparts in the parts of Otago that remained parched.
