Dunedin sports fields, golf courses and Otago Peninsula are looking particularly brown, and many inland farmers are already taking precautions for a looming feed shortage as settled dry weather continues to sit over the region.
MetService meteorologist Tahlia Crabtree said no significant rain was forecast for the area for the rest of March.
Over the past 30 days, Dunedin has had only 13.6mm of rain — well short of previous March totals, she said.
During March 2019, 34mm fell; and in March 2020, 48.8mm fell.
The picture was similar in Oamaru, where 14.4mm of rain had fallen over the past 30 days, Ms Crabtree said.
In March 2019, 39.2mm fell; and in March 2020, 52.8mm fell.
And Alexandra had been very dry over the past 30 days, just 9.4mm falling, compared with 24mm in 2020 and 35.4mm in 2019.
By comparison, other spots around Otago and Southland, including the Queenstown-Lakes district, Fiordland, Invercargill and Gore, appeared to be receiving near average rainfall for this time of year, Ms Crabtree said.
"It looks like Otago is going to be drier than average for the rest of this month, and as we can see, rainfall is already well below the totals from the last two years," Ms Crabtree said.
"One of the things that is at play in this is La Nina, which generally favours high-pressure systems over the South Island.
"When you’ve got that situation, it means weather fronts aren’t getting up into Otago and the weather stays quite stable — you don’t get those afternoon showers.
"Generally, it’s driving the drier situation."
Federated Farmers Otago president Simon Davies said the dry weather was definitely on most farmers’ radars, and many were already taking precautions for a looming feed shortage.
"We are dry — there’s no question about that. We’re not panicking yet, but farmers are certainly aware of the situation."
Some farmers had started getting rid of stock and sending them to freezing works, to make sure there would be enough feed to go around as winter approached, he said.
Some dairy farmers had also started using winter feed supplies to help keep milk production up until the end of the season.
"Certainly, we are getting into dry territory and farmers should be being prudent and starting to look at making decisions now, for later."
However, Ms Crabtree said a couple of days of very heavy rain could change the picture dramatically.
"We still have a couple of weeks to go for the month, so you never know."
