NEWS 5
Ashburton Guardian Thursday, February 17, 2022
Wet summer leaves harvest in strife
Chairman of the United Wheatgrowers NZ Ltd, Brian Leadley, says it’s not just some farmers who are affected, it’s all of them.
Pat Deavoll Grain and seed farmers in Mid Canterbury are in strife with the constant wet, humid weather preventing them from harvesting their crops. “It wouldn’t be some [grain and seed farmers], I’d say all of them,” chairman of the United Wheatgrowers NZ Ltd, Brian Leadley,
said. Leadley farms just out of Ashburton and is a past vice chairman of Federated Farmers’ arable group. “With the continual wet weather, combined with the humid air conditions between the rains, we just can’t get harvested,” he said. “We need a prolonged period of warm sunny weather, preferably with some dry nor‘west winds to get going. “Unfortunately, sometimes if you get a hot, sunny day, the humidity can get up to 70 per cent and farmers will still not get the grain dry. The humidity needs to
be down around 50 per cent for this to happen,” he said The ongoing conditions were causing grain and seed to sprout standing upright, unharvested, Leadley said “The quality of the grain is deteriorating. This won’t affect feed grains, although it does lose some yield. “But milling wheat and malted barley can’t be used if it has sprouted. All it can be used for is stock feed.” And it’s not just grain, but seeds that are sprouting, he said. Grass seed that has been cut and laying
on the ground has sprouted and will need to be re-cut before it can be harvested. This is an added expense and a delay, Leadley said. “You also lose a bit of seed doing this. It’s a reasonably desperate measure, but you have to do what you can to recover.” None of the other seed was doing well, he said. Any humid conditions put plants under threat of sprouting, mould, or disease. “Clovers, for example, will grow a lot of leaves, whereas we want to keep this growth down and develop the seed.” There is not a lot farmers can
do in this situation other than be proactive, Leadley said. “Have machinery well serviced so you can get going when the time comes. “Have a drying system organised because grain harvested out of condition won’t store. It needs to be dried in a silo with a big fan. This is another added cost. If you don’t have a system, find someone who can do it for you.” “The weather looks to be good for the next few days so farmers will be trying to harvest. It will be pretty tough hard going but anything done is good.”
Critical location for Fire and Emergency Malcolm Hopwood
Bradford Building is redeveloping a former electrical business for Fire and Emergency’s new Ashburton headquarters. PHOTO ASHBURTON GUARDIAN
Finding the ideal location has been crucial for Ashburton’s new Fire and Emergency headquarters. District manager for Mid and South Canterbury, Rob Hands, wanted somewhere close to the fire station, other response agencies and accessible to the public. Late last year Fire and Emergency took over Burtons Electrical in Havelock Street and is carrying out seismic strengthening and redeveloping the building for an increased 15-member staff. Hands is hoping work will be completed and staff can move in by the end of next month. The yet-to-be-named headquarters is two blocks away from the fire station and St John, 100 metres from police and next door to the council’s partly constructed Civic Administration
Building. It’s also close to Ashburton’s retail and business heart and will have a strong community focus. “Its purpose is to support the community’s readiness and response in case of fire and emergency,” Hands said. “We’ll have a reception team available throughout the day for people calling in and staff who’ll make contact with the community and local organisations. “We’ll be an upfront organisation able to cover areas of education, culture, safety, risk assessment and public health.” Key staff will handle issues such as property, training, fleet management, HR, planning and performance, health and safety and voluntary development on a local, regional and national basis, Hands said. Ashburton is a key location for the Canterbury region which extends from the Waitaki River to the top of the South Island. Hands said that previously staff have worked out of the fire station, but that would now be a purely operational area.
