As dry land farming pressures rise, Federated Farmers Otago provincial president Phill Hunt is urging rural neighbours to reach out to other farmers who are finding it hard to cope.
Mr Hunt, who farms in the Upper Clutha, near Wanaka, said conditions on his farm were among the driest he could recall at this stage in January since he began farming there in 1989.
And he yesterday took part, by teleconference, in a low river flows stakeholder group briefing, at the Otago Regional Council on the increasingly dry conditions in Otago.
Representatives of Otago Fish and Game, Ngai Tahu, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry for Primary Industries were among those who attended.
The briefing and discussion showed the continuing value of collaboration and co-operation over water use, Mr Hunt said.
And he noted that several community groups of farmers and other rural water users had formed, including in Central Otago.
These groups, including irrigators, had managed water takes collaboratively, and by doing so had extended the availability of water, as river levels continued to fall.
He acknowledged that the ORC had said it was emphasising collaborative approaches and that it would use only as a last resort its powers to issue water shortage directions under the Resource Management Act.
"Water is an incredibly important resource,'' Mr Hunt said.
"Things are pretty much dried out.''
In his area, in the Upper Clutha, "we're pretty much dry land farming''.
Mr Hunt said farmers were facing a "double-edged sword'', including wider financial and management pressures, as well as having to deal with drier conditions.
And they were having to make some tough decisions.
Many farmers were trying to reduce stock numbers but low prices for stock, including lambs, meant further complications.
And it was also challenging trying to grow crops that were needed for winter feed.
The Otago Rural Support Trust was available to provide support and advice for farmers, and neighbours could also help by reaching out to any other farmers who were struggling in the difficult conditions.
There was a need for people to be "keeping an eye on those in the local community and making sure they bear up''.
"Don't hesitate to try to seek some sort of help for them.''
He acknowledged that self-employed people who lived at their place of work, on the farm, could find it hard to escape the pressures.
And sometimes when pressures were building up, those affected "don't really know that it's happening'', he said.
And adding to the anxiety was the realisation that there was a "long way'' to go, with dry conditions predicted to last for another couple of months, unless there was some unexpected rain, he said.
The Otago Rural Support Trust can be contacted via 0800-787-254.
