Otago farmers are nervously eyeing the approach of winter, with autumn feed stocks depleted by a dry, windy summer reports The ODT. Most of Otago is drier than normal for this time of year, with the hardest-hit areas including North Otago, East Otago, Strath Taieri, Maniototo and Central Otago. "It's certainly going to be a difficult winter for a lot of people," Hawea farmer Richard Burdon said. North Otago Federated Farmers president Ross Ewing agreed, saying while farmers would welcome any rain, cool nights and wind meant it was getting late for vegetation growth to recover. "It's getting serious. The trouble is, winter is coming and nothing is happening." Oturehua farmer Ken Gillespie said just 190mm of rain had fallen on his farm since last May, making it one of the driest years he could remember. The long-term annual average was 520mm. Mr Gillespie said most farmers were down to basic breeding stock, and he had been feeding grain to his ewes for the last two weeks. Most farmers had enough supplementary feed to get through winter, but it would be tight. Mr Gillespie said 12mm to 15mm of rain in the next week or two would boost feed reserves, as long as there was no wind, which had negated any benefit from earlier falls.
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