A wetter-than-expected summer has been a blessing for livestock farmers, but a curse to Mid Canterbury’s arable sector just weeks out from the first harvests.

The last two weeks have seen clouded skies, lots of rain and occasional sunny breaks, and that pattern currently holds for the week ahead.

Mt Somers deer farmer Duncan Humm said he was grateful for the “bloody wet” weather.

“This December, we had 142 milliliters, which is pretty damn good.

“This time last year… we’d had 89 milliliters in October, 69 in November and 46 in December.”

He said fellow livestock farmers had grown worried watching the forecasts, “especially after most of 2024 being so dry”.

“It started raining right in the nick of time, really.”

Fellow Mt Somers sheep and cattle farmer David Acland said the weather was a “brilliant Christmas present.”

“It was a welcome change to where we were at… it was a very precarious situation through the foothills.”

The Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury president said rain would set his farm up well for the rest of summer - though the same couldn’t be said for crop farmers.

“It’s not ideal for the arable guys, leading into their harvest.”

Dromore arable farmer Brian Leadley said the rain had initially been well-received.

“It was getting pretty challenging to keep up the irrigation.

“So when we got that change, it was relatively welcome to help us out, but now it's fair to say we’d welcome the sun back.”

Last year the conditions were perfect for arable farmers - Mostly dry, with occasional small bouts of rain to keep the plants happy.

The constant cloud was the biggest concern, he said.

“The rain, from our perspective, is not doing too much harm yet.

“The lack of sunshine, it’ll start becoming a bit damaging soon.”

Leadley said some farmers would start their harvests in the next eight to 10 days, and despite the weather forecast, he hoped the sun would come through for them.

“This is not summer weather - It’s cool breezes, and quite wet.

“It’s certainly not helpful to the arable industry.”

Ashburton farmer David Redmond has both cattle and potatoes.

“The cattle’s ok, the grass is growing well.

“But the potatoes are looking like they need sunshine.”

While he expected some rain, Redmond said the extreme switch in weather was causing his veggies grief.

“It went from so dry and hot, and then, within two weeks, to wet.

“And the temperatures dropped by half, really.”

He said the weather would start to ruin his harvest if it continued.

“The negatives would be if it keeps raining and we get hail, that’d be the worst thing.”

By Anisha Satya