Hon Damien O’Connor
Minister of Agriculture
A new $500,000 fund will help farmers and growers prepare their businesses to recover from drought as the economy gets
moving again, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced.
The fund will provide advisory services that usually cost $5000 to equip rural businesses with professional and
technical advice to help them recover from and better prepare for future drought.
“As we rebuild the economy following the effects of a global pandemic, we have an opportunity to build back better than
before and factor in resilience for our productive primary sector,” Damien O’Connor said.
“So far this year the Government has invested $17 million to help drought-stricken regions recover from what many are
saying is the worst drought in living memory. It has affected all of the North Island and a good portion of the South.
“Although there has been a bit of rain relief recently, it takes steady rain at the right time to get grass growing
again. The flow-on effects of water shortages and low feed availability take a long time to fully recover from and some
farmers will be dealing with the effects of this drought for a year or more.
”One of the unusual consequences of the drought has already started to be noticed by consumers – that being the paler
colour of our butter.
“As the saying goes ‘you are what you eat’. The same goes for cows. New Zealand’s unique pasture-based farming system
gives our butter a wonderful yellow colour. The shortage of grass and reliance on supplementary feed has meant our
butter has started to turn white. A return to yellow will maintain our competitive advantage in our export markets.
“We know that, with climate change, we can expect more acute weather events so it’s important we help farmers and
growers get their businesses ready for future drought.
“Key to recovery is making good decisions, based on sound advice. The purpose of this new fund is to ensure our farmers
and growers can tap into this advice.
“The fund will address the longer-term issues but there are also ongoing, acute issues that need to be addressed with
urgency. Access to feed is the biggest acute issue so two feed coordinators are in place as of today, one in the North
Island and another in the South, to make sure available feed gets from where it is to where it’s most needed.
“The primary sector has shown time and again it has the strength, resilience and ability to recover from tough times and
come back stronger than ever. I have every faith that – with this support – they’ll get through this too.’’
Fund information
The fund will be managed by the Ministry for Primary Industries and will pay for recovery advisory services of up to
$5000 (excl GST) for selected applications in drought-affected regions.
Funding can be used for a range of advisory services and drought-related advice, like:
• Strategic planning and the development of farm business plans
• Practical, on-the-ground advice and support like land management and sustainable management techniques
• Technical advice on soil and pastures, animal production, and feed budgeting.
To be eligible for this fund:
• The farm is located in one of the 2020 drought affected regions or districts (all of the North Island; the Chatham
Islands, Christchurch, Marlborough, Nelson, Tasman, Selwyn, Kaikoura and Waimakariri districts and regions).
• The business has been negatively affected by the 2020 drought
• 50% of the farmer’s income, in a normal year, is earned from this farming business
The fund is open for applications between 11 May and 12 June 2020.
Following the close of the fund, eligible applications that meet the criteria will be drawn until all funding has been
committed. Successful applicants will be advised on 22 June 2020.
There will be a reporting process between the farmer, the contractor and MPI to help ensure work undertaken has been
agreed, budgeted and done to a high standard.
An application form and criteria are available on MPI’s website.
2020 drought and Government support
Regions and districts includes all of the North Island; the Chatham Islands, Christchurch, Marlborough, Nelson, Tasman,
Selwyn, Kaikoura and Waimakariri districts and regions.
Support has been provided to drought stricken regions through a range of investments including $10 million for immediate
water needs, $2 million to set up temporary water supplies, $2 million for rural assistance payments and about $2.5
million to boost funding for Rural Support Trusts, recovery co-ordinators and a feed working group, $.5 million for
advisory services and drought-related advice.