Newspaper Article 2005 – After the deluge it’s time to roll up sleeves

Hawke’s Bay farmers are a philosophical, practical lot. No matter what the natural disaster or mayhem, ‘the fella up the road, across the valley or over the hill’ is always worse off. And there is never any time for feeling sorry for themselves or complaining because there’s work to be done, stock to be cared for and that fella up the road, across the valley or over the hill needs help more.

For the farmers badly hit in the torrential rains which swept through southern Hawke’s Bay that attitude shines through from all off [of] them. As if they were not already aware of the powers of nature the events of this time last year brought home to them just who really is in charge. However, even that doesn’t dent their philosophical approach to life.

ROSE HARDING spoke to farmers a year after floodwaters ripped through their properties.

After the deluge it’s time to roll up sleeves

For the Porangahau farmers hit in last February’s flood, it has been a year of standing still.

Time, energy and money that would have gone into farm and stock development has instead been poured into repairs and maintenance to get their farms back to where they were a year ago.

For Cooks Tooth Road farmers Roy and Marion Stoddart, it has meant replacing tracks, culverts and kilometres of fencing on their narrow and steep farm.

Roy plans to make it better than it was and less vulnerable to the kind of damage he experienced last year.

He has had diggers and bulldozers on his farm pushing slips back into place, digging out damaged culverts, clearing blocked creeks and drains.

He has replaced 10 culverts at a cost of $300 each.

He’s put in bigger ones and more of them so they won’t be so easily blown out.

He’s cleared debris out of creeks so the water can get away faster, making life safer for him and his stock.

Because the rains arrived in February after a gentle summer his stock had plenty of feed despite the slips.

Big stock losses were not a feature of the Porangahau floods, in contrast to the Manawatu area.

Roy lost some ewes in slips and some shorn lambs drowned.

Because he has little flat land he was luckier than some farmers whose stock was washed away.

The biggest job, and one which isn’t over yet, is replacing the fencing.

“I still have a lot of temporary fences.” he says.

Sheep, especially the neighbour’s lambs, are good at spotting the gaps in fencing and getting through them.

Finally, replacing the temporary fences is one of those jobs that is easy to put off in favour of something more interesting.

“It’s the biggest challenge.

“I estimate it could be two years before everything on the farm is fixed.”

All the farmers caught last year have been grateful for continuing high returns for their lambs.

“Things would be a lot more difficult if it hadn’t been such a good farming year,” Roy says

It has also been a good year for regrassing damaged paddocks and replanting crops.

Despite the February rains and more in August the Stoddarts’ lambing percentage was a respectable 135 percent.

The Stoddarts have learned some lessons from the floods.

If Roy hears a heavy rain warning again he will be out there lifting the pump from the creek so it isn’t washed away, taking the water supply with it.

He has also learned a lot about the kindness of strangers and all those who volunteered unasked to help.

He was one who had a week’s free labour from young farmers from the South Island.

The Stoddarts hosted Angus Lang, a big, strong, young farmer from the Canterbury hill country, who stayed for a week and helped repair fences and clear slips.

Angus was one of a group of young farmers given time off by their employers to help flood victims in Hawke’s Bay and the Manawatu/Rangitikei area.

Roy and his wife Marion have since been to see Angus on his farm at Quartz Hill up the Rakaia Gorge.

In the early days there were the Taskforce Green workers who turned up to clear tonnes of debris off fences before repairs or replacement could begin.

Although the Stoddarts are among many farmers still waiting for promised Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry grants, other assistance from the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council and the Red Cross arrived quickly.

“It was unexpected and most appreciated.”

Photos captions –

A YEAR LATER: The scars have barely begun to heal on Roy and Marion Stoddart’s farm on Cook’s Tooth Road, Porangahau.
HBTODAY PICTURE: PAUL TAYLOR

REMINDER: Debris on a bridge in last year’s February storm.
PICTURE: HORIZONS REGIONAL COUNCIL

BETTER THAN BEFORE: A bulldozer repairs a track on the Stoddarts’ farm. The damage from a year ago is clear on the hills behind.   HBTODAY PICTURE: PAUL TAYLOR