Facial eczema counts & the Big Dry
The latest facial eczema spore counts from Anexa Animal Health, for the week ending 14 March 2014 are:
Gordonton: Waring Rd 20,000 Procter Rd 25,000, 5,000 Holland Rd 5,000
Matamata: Walton 60,000
Morrinsville: Kiwitahi 5,000 Tatuanui 10,000
Huntly: Tahuna Road, Ohinewai: 10,000 State HW22, Huntly 10,000 Glen Murray 10,000
THE WAIKATO has had one of its driest Februarys on record and in some areas soil moisture deficits may be as severe as the 2013 drought, according to Niwa.
Tauhei dairy farmer Blair Jackson says the rain predicted with Cyclone Lusi this weekend will be too late.
He told the Waikato Times he is up to 90 per cent supplementary feed for his 160 cows.
“We needed stuff in December to get us through to summer. It will set us up a little bit better coming into winter.”
Talk at the farm gate has farmers predicting 150mm of rain throughout the storm but Mr Jackson hoped it would come over a few days rather than one big hit.
“A 150mm in 12 hours is no good, it’s all just going to run off. It’s not going to have time to soak in.”
Gordonton farmer Wayne Reynolds said the rain would transform his farm and have a dramatic effect on this season’s profitability.
Waikato Federated Farmers president James Houghton told a Hamilton board meeting on Tuesday that he believed the region was experiencing a drought, even though one had not been officially declared.
“It hasn’t been declared because of the implications associated with the declaration,” Mr Houghton said.
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