7 Sheep levy increase proposed Vol 19 No 22, June 7, 2021
farmersweekly.co.nz
$3.95
Incl GST
River rules my farm Annette Scott
T
annette.scott@globalhq.co.nz
HE storm has eased and the carnage is emerging on Darryl Butterick’s floodstricken Ashburton Forks property. Farming deer, sheep and beef across two separate properties between the North and South branches of the Ashburton River, Butterick was smack bang in the middle, copping the breakout of both rivers. “We got it right up the ass, that’s for sure,” Butterick said. Two-thirds of his deer farm, carrying 500 hinds and sire stags, was under water. “The water just came so damn quick and so bloody fast; it was a raging torrent that took over my farm,” he said. “It took everything in its way – uprooted trees, fencing, deer yards, gates, stock. “It left me carnage, paddocks of shingle and rubble and the neighbour’s heifers, most of which are dead, tangled in trees and debris.” And that very neighbour is the farmer miraculously rescued by a local helicopter operator while trying to save his heifers. Butterick spotted a flickering light in a tree when he went out early on Sunday morning to check his stock. “I thought ‘that looks like a light flickering in that tree’, then I got a bit further up the road and heard my neighbour was missing, taken by the flash flood along with his heifers he was trying to save,” he said.
“I went back to the tree hoping it was what I was thinking – his head torch. “It was and it was all-go from then, but (we were) all relieved once we heard the Westpac rescue team was on its way. “Then (we got) the message that it turned back due to the weather conditions. “We had a man who would be dead now if we hadn’t had that local pilot give it a go; he knew what he could do and he performed it perfectly. “That certainly occupied the mind for a bit.” Butterick is still assessing the carnage on his farms and expects to be for several days yet. He knows he has lost seven sire stags; he found them dead. He is missing farm equipment, including his plough and a roller. “And the (quad) bike is stuffed,” he said. While the hinds have been rounded up, they are awaiting relocation. “I’m not sure I have them all, we are still finding them. What we have got alive are contained, by a wing and a prayer, until we can rebuild some yards to get them in and truck them out. They are headed for two South Canterbury properties while Butterick gets his farm refenced. His sheep and beef property on the opposite side of the road was flooded by the north branch of the Ashburton River when it jumped out, cutting through 200 metres of stopbank. “There it (the river) also left me with a lot of shingle and silt, and more re-fencing,” he said. “It came up through the yard,
DEVASTATION: Ashburton farmer Darryl Butterick recalls the raging torrent that took over his farm, uprooting trees, fencing, deer yards, gates and stock. Photo: Annette Scott
Would you believe all this water and I have no water for the stock? Just another thing to add to what is becoming a very long list. Darryl Butterick Farmer through the woolshed and machinery sheds, we only just got the dogs out.
“We were very lucky, it came close, but didn’t get in the house. I’m pretty grateful for that.” The priority needs to be fencing, Butterick says, but he is nervous. “We are still under real threat, the water is about a foot off the top of the stopbank and until river works are done, who knows how long that will be, then it won’t even need to be a big fresh come down (the river) before it will be out again,” he said. And the irony of it all? Stockwater. “That’s all been wiped out – pumps, pipelines, and would you
You know farming. We know power. Let’s talk. Talk to our Agribusiness experts about how we can power your farm. Only a farmer gets what it’s like to battle the weather and markets, day in and day out. That’s why our Agribusiness Team are experts in only one thing – powering New Zealand farms. Whoever you’re talking to, they’ll know their stuff, and have your back. Call 0800 496 444 or visit meridian.co.nz/agri to get in touch.
believe all this water and I have no water for the stock? Just another thing to add to what is becoming a very long list,” he said. Butterick estimates rebuilding his farm will cost in the vicinity of $500,000. “Maybe more, we really don’t know the full extent yet,” he said. “Clearing shingle and silt off the paddocks will take a lot of big gear, it’s a lot of money.” He is grateful for the help he is getting. “Everyone is slogging their guts out for each other, it’s real character-building,” he said.