-
Related
Farmers in drought-affected parts of the North Island are expected to feel the financial strain of it until September 2009.
The government estimates the recent dry period will cost the rural sector upwards of a billion dollars this financial year.
Federated Farmers president Charlie Pederson says although the drought is expected to be over by the end of April, the winter weather doesn't make life any easier.
He says there are not many farms in New Zealand that can grow enough feed to supply their animals everyday.
Pederson says farmers are making calculations about how much feed they will need during winter, which is not easy.
He says Northland and the parts of the Hawkes Bay are the only areas not experiencing the most widespread drought he has seen in thirty years of farming.
