“We’ve seen everything from erosion and landslides through to debris and silt throughout paddocks, water systems and culverts are gone, and a huge amount of fencing is down – so it’s quite extensive the amount of damage that has happened on those farms and on that whenua.”
King said farms were cut off, and even within farms, farmers could not access their stock.
“This is steep hill country farming – farmers will jump on their horse and get out there if they really have to.”
She said farmers and contractors were waiting for the land to dry out before getting heavy machinery in to start the cleanup.
“It’s still raining here on Monday, so we are hoping by Wednesday we can reassess when we will be able to get machines in to start reinstating access to farms – that’s step one.”
King, alongside others involved in the recovery, also took to the air to assess the damage.
“It was quite emotional actually, because I did the farm assessments in Gabrielle, and it was going through the back of my head how many gains we have made, how much work has gone into rebuilding the infrastructure on their farms and how much capital has gone in – and now it’s all back to square one.
“I was feeling disheartened for our farmers, because for many this is the second or third time they’ve been hit hard in recent years.”
Beef + Lamb NZ’s Pania King Farms says on the East Coast have been “smashed” by recent storms.
She said five farms had been listed as a priority.
“They’ve been really smashed – the destruction on those farms is actually quite unreal.”
King said everyone was keeping a close eye on morale on the farms.
Paddocks have been flooded or left covered in silt and debris.
“As you can imagine, it’s only natural to be feeling pretty down in the dumps when you’ve done this two or three times – this is not their first rodeo.”
She’s working on a damage assessment that will be sent to the Ministry for Primary Industries and other agencies which support the sector.
Farmers and contractors were waiting for the land to dry out before bringing in heavy machinery to start the cleanup.
“We need to recover pastures and get some crops growing ahead of winter for feed, otherwise that will bring a whole other issue for our farmers.
She said the farms hit were 95% whenua Māori, so the farmers would rebuild and stay on their land.
“This is a close-knit community, and everyone is looking out for each other and helping where they can.”
– RNZ