Tension around feed
Drought continues to plague milkers in New Zealand
Class medium. It will remain in effect for the drought, which has gripped the north and parts of the south of New Zealand. There was rain during the Christmas season, but not everywhere and not enough. This makes forage production a difficult task for dairy farmers.
New Zealand has 3 disaster classifications: local, medium and large scale. When a certain class is assigned to a disaster, it also gives access to an emergency fund. As a result, it was good news that the drought was raised to medium class a week earlier.
East coast very dry
The North Island in particular is struggling with drought. The drought is not equally bad everywhere, for example, the moisture content in the soil in the middle of the North Island is still reasonable. This does not apply to parts of the east coast and the north of the North Island. Areas where there are quite a few dairy farmers.
For the time being, the weather forecasts do not yet predict any relief from the drought and that poses a problem. For example, the season started with a wet winter and a wet spring, which did not help the grass growth. After the bad start, the tide seemed to be turning and dairy farmers saw the grass recover quickly. However, there has been little rainfall since November, resulting in the drought being declared a disaster of a class medium at the end of December.
Not as dry as in 2013
The current dry period is not as bad as in 2013. Then the drought in New Zealand resulted in high prices for dairy, but it is slowly starting to become a cause for concern. It is especially difficult to build up stocks for the winter.
That things are starting to get serious is also apparent from messages from the banks ANZ and Westpac. They come with emergency packages to accommodate dairy farmers; examples are the suspension of loan repayments, the loan of interest-free money to be able to take measures against the damage and the granting of short-term loans when dairy farmers need money to maintain milk production.
Westpac indicates that there are already dairy farmers who sell forced cows. "It pushed prices down in the livestock market." Despite the good intentions, it is causing mixed feelings among dairy farmers who are still recovering from the financial blow in 2015/2016. The outbreak of an animal disease among the cows, as a result of the bacterium mycoplasma, is also stirring up unrest.
Climate breaker
With these developments, it looks like New Zealand's milk lake has reached its peak. The milk production of 2017/2018 will most certainly remain below the level of 2014 and 2015. New Zealand is therefore behind California. While still the most important state for milk production in the United States, today the herd is at its smallest size since 2005. Here again, the climate looks to be the spoilsport.
Herman van den Pol
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