Heavy rain over the past few days has been welcomed by farmers.
But it means extra work for farmer David Lowe.
He has had to drain some of his paddocks of excess water and when News photographer Simon Greig photographed him, he was about to dig a few more trenches.
Mr Lowe was suitably dressed in what he called his “duck weather gear”.
The Campbell's Soup weather station reported 15 mm in the 24 hours to 9 am this morning, and the Water Commission reported 15 to 25 mm in surrounding areas in the same period.
A Department of Agriculture spokesmen described the rain as “very welcome” and “ideal”.
Jack McPhail, department spokesman for the fruit industry, said there was no danger to crops and another 50 mm would be needed before there was any problem.
Ken Dowsley, spokesman for the dryland cereal and cropping, said the rain was very welcome.
“For the dairy farmer the rain is ideal,” said Alex Pollock, department spokesman for dairying.
He said the rain was helping fill water storages, saving the farmer water by reducing the need to irrigate and by helping to create a lot more feed for cattle.
He said there would probably be a lot more hay around this year.
Mr Pollock quoted an old farmer: “In the spring, mud makes money”.
He said the current outlook was superb.
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