October’s storms carved through the King Country but farmers stand firm – mending fences, lifting bridges, and holding fast to the land and family. Jon Rawlinson meets some of them.
Flooding on State Highway 30, near Mangaokewa Reserve Road, south of Te Kūiti. Photo Laura Adams, Little Valley Photography
Flood waters recede, fences get rebuilt and stock replaced – but the scars left by storms run deeper than mud.
While some King Country farmers bore the brunt of the October storms, others are thanking their lucky stars that the worst didn’t hit their particular valley quite so hard, at least not this time.
Natasha Cave
Rotowai Farms – south of Te Kūiti – wasn’t badly damaged, but its owners, Natasha and Alan Cave know what it’s like to pick up the pieces.
“We were hit quite badly when we caught the edge of the Auckland Anniversary storm – we had a lot of fence damage then, but we had some specific culvert and fence insurance, which saved our bacon,” Natasha says.
“Thankfully, this time we were lucky compared to some others.”
The selective nature of such storms can actually exacerbate the fallout – those who avoid the worst, sheltered in one valley, may not realise just how bad the impact has been for farmers in the next.
“The pocketed nature of the damage can be isolating as some who are unaffected may not be fully aware of the stressful situation others are in,” Natasha says.
“There’s a mental, wellbeing toll. It really is heart-breaking seeing the whenua you love and work so hard on being battered.”
As a Whanganui Region Catchment Collective (WRCC) coordinator, Cave has been working with others, including Mat Sherriff (King Country Rivercare) and the Rural Support Trust to help fellow farmers with recovery efforts.
Storm damage, Waiharakeke Bridge – the boundary between Ōtorohanga and Waitomo district councils.
In some cases, farmers with flooded land have needed feed for their stock but the greatest impact has been caused by slips.
“Some have lost access to bridges, and a lot have lost substantial amounts of fencing and tracks,” Natasha says.
“It will cost some tens of thousands replacing fencing alone, that’s the biggest issue.”
Farmers also have to prepare for the next storm – and looking even further ahead – while still busy cleaning up from the last.
“A lot of areas in the hill country that haven’t given way completely are at risk of doing so when the next significant rainfall hits,” Natasha says.
“Anecdotally, these extreme weather events are happening more often. Just as an example, we have a bridge that’s gone under water multiple times in recent years. We lifted it a bit higher because it has been happening so often. The water level was so high this time that it went underwater anyway, but at least it’s still there.”
“There’s a mental, wellbeing toll. It really is heart-breaking seeing the whenua you love and work so hard on being battered.” – Natasha Cave
Whether the weather is getting worse overall may be open to debate, but preparation must follow recovery just as surely as recovery must follow disaster.
Chris Irons
During (approximately) 30 years farming in the King Country, Waitomo Federated Farmers branch chair Chris Irons has seen some of the worst weather.
“It’s all cyclical; we’ve been here before. We’ve had floods at this time of year in the past, but I suppose we record a lot more of it now,” he says.
“Also, the damage wasn’t as dramatised back in the day – it wasn’t as easy to take photos or share them. People used to get on and deal with it.”
Irons’ farm was especially hard hit during Cyclone Dovi in 2022.
“There was much less damage this time, nothing like during Dovi. This one was similar but in a different valley and covering a slightly wider area. There was a lot of rain concentrated in one area, that’s what caused so much damage.”
Federated Farmers has also provided relief for farmers short of feed and Fonterra has reimbursed dairy farmers for milk dumped while it couldn’t be collected due to blocked roads.
While there’s no sense crying over spilt milk, ensuring (or insuring) farmers are better able to pocket the cost of adverse weather is imperative.
Tony Quickfall
“It’d be hard to guess how much damage there’s been,” Irons says.
“A lot of damage on farms can’t be insured – you can insure your fence lines, but you can’t insure against your land moving underneath you.”
With regards to the wider region, plans are regularly reviewed to improve preparations, says Ōtorohanga Civil Defence local controller Tony Quickfall.
“We have operational response plans reviewed every three years. We look at the hazards and how we can mitigate and minimise any risks. But every event is unique in terms of lessons about vulnerability and areas where we could improve resilience.”
However, to a certain degree, the hills and valleys of the King Country farmland will always make its farmers vulnerable, says Waitomo’s Civil Defence emergency manager Alex Bell.
Alex Bell
“It’s going to be quite hard to prevent those issues. It’s very difficult to make the district more resilient given the topography and landscape.”
As the clean-up continues and the scars of October’s storms slowly fade, King Country farmers stay grounded in resilience.
Whether rebuilding tracks, replacing fences, or simply checking in on neighbours, their response is rooted in connection – to the land, to each other, and to a future they refuse to let wash away.
Damage to Kaimango Road, west of Ōtorohanga.
