This year has been tough for farmers in the South. First it was too dry, then it was too wet and then it was too white. While a mild July and August alleviated the fears of many, others are still dealing with the snow which hit the hill country of Otago. Reporter Timothy Brown caught up with Milton farmer Paul Corboy to see what effects the snow has left.
Rows of manuka trees, limbs split and branches barely hanging on, litter Paul Corboy's Table Hill farm.
''It's like a giant hand has squashed them,'' he says.
The trees are a sign of the hangover created by one of the worst snow binges in Otago's history.
''The climate's usually fairly reliable, but we are always prepared for a tough winter,'' Mr Corboy said.
''We keep a snowplow and a stack of silage here, and the only reason we keep them is for a tough winter.''
Mr Corboy was philosophical about the damage to his farm and said he had escaped much more lightly than many others in the region.
Only a ''handful of at-risk ewes'' had been lost to the snow, but the ongoing complications the snow had created were the problem, he said.
The snow had been ''annoying more than costly'', as fences were damaged all over his 1500ha property.
''We start lambing in a few weeks time and we still haven't got all the fences going,'' he said.
The situation had required him to place stock where fences were available and created ''real complications in management'', he said.
The snow's effects were also going to affect this season as his scanning percentage was ''well back and poor compared to normal'', he said.
''The condition of the sheep wasn't as good as it has been,'' Mr Corboy said.
''We are currently going to be back on lambs. I might sell a reasonable number of store lambs just to get the capital stock back.''
While he was still dealing with issues of the ''most annoying year'' in his farming career, he had a plan for the coming season.
''We have just got to knuckle down and do it,'' he said.