Cleanup begins for flood-hit farmers

Gerald Piddock NEWS Weather

FARMERS across South Auckland and Waikato face an anxious time as they wait for floodwaters to ease so they can take stock of the damage and begin cleaning up.

The two regions have been hit by record rainfall over the past two weeks, causing flooding that damaged infrastructure and roads, and overwhelmed crops and paddocks.

Auckland Federated Farmers president Alan Cole said farmers appear to be coping with the deluge and his biggest concern is the wellbeing of farmers on the flats west of Pukekohe.

Cole said he knows of one dairy farm in the Otaua-Ake Ake district that is underwater. The farmer had managed to shift the herd to safety.

At this stage there are no stock losses and most of the damage seems to be to infrastructure such as fencing, power poles and roads.

Because of the sheer volume of water, anything that got in the way took damage, he said.

“Farmers seem to be all right. Most made the point of moving [stock] because they knew there was pretty heavy rain. One farmer moved his stock during the night, and the next morning all of his flats were completely flooded.

“One commented to me that he’s had his race moved into the paddock. It’s just been the sheer volume of water. I had water running over my drive and two hours earlier it was barely through the culvert pipe. No infrastructure could have coped,” said Cole.

The Feds’ Waikato president, Jacqui Hahn, said the rain had caused bad flooding in North Waikato around the Mercer district, in Waitomo, and at Otorohanga and east towards Te Aroha.

“There’s surface flooding anywhere near a river,” she said.

Most of the damage appears to be to fencing, road damage, and landslips. Waterways have been re-directed and silage bales have been moved, but there have been no reports of stock losses yet.

Looking ahead, Hahn said the question will now be how long it takes for river levels to drop and the flooding to subside so landowners can make a proper assessment of any damage.

“It’s a continuing watching brief. The high water levels have stuck around longer than I had expected and the [hydro] dams are also very full.”

The faster the flooding subsides, the less likelihood there will be of damage to pastures or feed crops, and farmers will then know if they have any potential feed issues for their stock, Hahn said.

“It’s the amount of silt that’s still on the paddock and until that goes away, we don’t really know.

“Around the region we should be able to help each other.”

Hahn urged farmers who are badly affected to contact the Rural Support Trust.

Fonterra’s GM of national transport and logistics, Paul Phipps, said the co-operative has generally been able to collect everything from around Auckland.

“The main issue has been to the east of Auckland, along the Coromandel peninsula, where flooding and road slips made collections more difficult. However, we were still able to safely access most farms there and as of today we are able to collect milk from all farms across the country.”

Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said that their early assessment is that meat processing plants have been relatively unaffected by the heavy rain and flooding. However, there has been some disruption to livestock pick-ups due to road closures.

“Inevitably, some plant staff have also faced difficulties getting to and from work. Meat processing companies have been dealing with weather-related disruption for some time and are working closely with farmers to mitigate the impact of the situation,” she said.

According to Waikato Regional Council data, the Pinnacles rain gauge for January recorded a rainfall total of 1224mm, more than the 1133.5mm that fell in July 1998, making it the wettest month since records began in March 1991.

The Te Kūiti rain gauge recorded rainfall greater than a 100-year average return interval for 12- and 24-hour durations.