Jamie Mackay from The Country had a quick chat with Brad Osborne, area livestock manager for PGG Wrightson for South Auckland.

On a lighter note, Jamie expressed surprise that there's actually a lamb draft on Waiheke Island.  Brad's heading over there to do just that.

It's agreed this should be an interesting exercise!  According to Brad there are still plenty of ewes and breeding cows on the island.

Jamie then turned to the more serious business of floods in South Auckland.  He asked Brad how the recovery's going.  Brad confirmed it's been a slow process with many farmers and residents still assessing the damage.  It's been widespread with significant loss of land.  Fence lines have been blown out. There's even been loss of life with one of PGG Wrightson's clients being swept away.  Overall, very traumatic.  Ascertaining the damage is still on-going with a lot of roading still blocked off.  The rainfall was 300 mils in some parts of the region over a 48-hour period and the drainage just couldn't keep up.

Jamie ventured that if there is a positive to come out of all this rain the top half of the North Island, it's that draught is completely off the radar.  There's more grass than you know what to do with.  And the one thing that drives store markets for cattle and sheep is grass.  Brad agreed and says there have been some very buoyant prices through the sale yards and paddock sales.  The demand is huge.  But the outlook for the next couple of weeks will be slow as there's not a lot of cattle out there to be sold.

As a side note, Jamie inquired whether lambs and cattle still cross Cook Strait.  With it being pretty dry down in the South Island, will many make the journey north?  Brad said there will be a considerable number of lambs heading north to help control the grass.

Jamie ended by asking whether dairy cow empty rates are a concern and what Brad sees as the cause.  Brad puts it down to grass growth during mating months.  There are still some final scans to be done but early indications are not good.  It'll be worked through and they'll try to get some cows out to the people who need them.