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Source: ONE News
A hailstorm which hit parts of Canterbury on Saturday has caused more than $1 million damage to crop farms, Federated Farmers says.
Golf ball-sized hailstones swept across North Canterbury and carved a six to eight kilometre path of destruction through crops, North Canterbury Federated Farmers grain and seed chairman Paul Stackhouse says.
"I know of one farmer who incurred $250,000 worth of damage to his crops. A number of rape seed crops were also badly affected by the hailstones. This includes one farmer who saw some 40 hectares of crops literally stripped bare."
"The heaviest hail stones fell from the Waimakariri River to north of Amberley. If farmers had crops of any kind under that storm when it hit those crops would have suffered damage," he says.
Vineyards were also hit.
"I know of one vineyard between Amberley and Broomfield that was heavily damaged," Stackhouse says.
Chris Sundstrum, North Canterbury Federated Farmers provincial president, says three of his neighbours each lost about 30% of their crops.
"All of my baleage was punctured and had to be rewrapped. The hail that passed over on Saturday afternoon was as large as golf balls. I've never seen hail that size before. Quite a few cropping farmers would have lost about $100,000 each".
