We’ve started the year in a bad way for many farmers, with dry, hot conditions worsening in many parts of the country – though recent rains have provided relief for some.

We wanted to know in this week’s poll how our farming readership was feeling, heading into a (traditionally) wetter month, and whether grass stocks were satisfactory.

Well, the results were something of a surprise, with a combined 82% of farmers saying their grass was either “great” or “perfect”, leaving the remaining 18% in the negative.

Of that group, a mere 7% said that conditions were “terrible” – reflecting perhaps those in areas skipped over by the recent rains…but they’ll have their fingers crossed that autumnal weather patterns have more in store!

– Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz