Tuesday 24 August 2021
Waiting game for farmers as lockdown lingers Chris Valli
Farmers across the region have been quick to act in the wake of last week’s lockdown announcement. The announcement from the Government that plunged New Zealand into Alert Level 4 Lockdown saw farms implement their lockdown strategies to adhere to distancing rules and QR scanning. Waihopai Valley farmer Richard Dawkins, who runs the award winning The Pyramid Farm alongside dad Chris, says the duo are trying to keep it “business as usual” as much as possible. “Being a father and son operation and currently in the middle of lambing it’s pretty much status quo and we’ll be boxing on, ‘’ Richard says. “The biggest inconvenience at this stage is not being able to make appointments and seeing people, so we have had to postpone appointments”. Richard says the main concern at this stage of the year for the family farm and others was the lack of Recognised Seasonal Employees (RSE). But in the interim, local farmers were well supported from within the farming industry and the networking was beneficial for Marl-
Waihopai Valley farmer Richard Dawkins is trying to keep it “business as usual” at the family’s farm. Photo: Supplied. borough farmers, he says. Businesses involved in food and beverage production are allowed to keep operating during alertlevel 4 as essential services. This includes fishers, farmers, orchardists, meat and dairy processing companies, as well as vets and other essential support services.
Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard says work on farms will continue as normal for many at this stage - but with the Delta variant more transmissible, farmers needed to follow the rules, he says. “The hardest part will be the social distancing in some situations. If you’re dealing with a dif-
ficult carving and the vet needs to come, that’s where things get challenging. “But by-and-large staying at home in August isn’t usually an issue for most dairy farmers. We hardly ever leave, so we just need to carry on with our work.” The Pyramid business currently comprises 602ha within the
boundaries of the Avon, Tummil and Waihopai rivers. In 2019, The Pyramid won the farming section as well as the supreme award in the Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards. It was only the second farm to win the multi-industry award in more than 20 years.