Despite some stock losses, Otago and Southland farmers feel like they've dodged a weather bullet

Heavy spring snowfalls have made life difficult for farmers and their stock.

Farmers in Southland and Otago feel they’ve largely dodged a bullet, following heavy snowfalls on Monday and Tuesday.

While some farmers will undoubtedly lose newly-born lambs as a result, the loss won’t be as significant as some first feared.

"There will be an impact, but it won’t be as severe as it was in 2010," Federated Farmers Southland vice-president Bernadette Hunt told 1 NEWS.

The comment refers to a heavy snowfall in 2010, where a storm followed by several days of rain left more than 250,000 lambs dead across the region.

“It’ll be devastating for some, but not large scale,” Hunt says.

Hunt says many farms will have finished lambing in the last fortnight, while the weather had been somewhat warmer.

She expects farmers in the high country across inland parts of Southland and Central Otago to be the worst affected.

SHARE ME

More Stories