On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around

Despite a dry period in Pukekohe in the middle of the month, warmer temperatures and residual soil moisture has stimulated crop growth. Most farmers are through calving on the West Coast and are busy dehorning cows. Listen to this months wrap of conditions around the motuNorthland saw its first real September day this week with four seasons in one day. However, the month has been kind to farmers with steady weather conditions - not up and down as it normally would be this time of year, which has been great for the tail end of calving. Ground conditions are drier than average and there's not a lot of grass but there's been a lot of sunshine hours. Despite a dry period in Pukekohe in the middle of the month, warmer temperatures and residual soil moisture have stimulated crop growth. Many vegetables are in stronger supply at reduced financial returns to growers. Growers warn this situation may continue for a while.Typical spring weather has been the story in Waikato as the sky doesn't know if it's winter or summer. The end of August had our contact stressed with no grass or silage up the sleeve. Cows moved to a 3-2 milking cycle and with a lot of hard work and a stroke of luck, grass conditions have gone from absolute crap to absolute hero. Last week had temperatures rising from 14 degrees to 21 some days, and many farmers are coming out of the struggle and even getting ahead of their milk production targets. Nature seems to have played ball in Bay of Plenty this September. In saying that, there's been a lot of surface water on farms with up to 200 millimetres hitting the ground nearer Whakatāne in the past week or so. This time of year rain is welcome as it kickstarts a lot of growth - especially good when you're working up the ground to get summer crops in, which is exactly what our contact was doing when we called.A nice warm month has been felt in King Country and grass is actually growing. Good frosts, nice dry days with decent sunshine have all been on the menu plus the odd day of rain to the point there was almost flooding a week ago. Those trying to dock lambs this week have been mucked around with inconsistent weather, although farmers around Te Kuiti have finished docking for the season.It's been wet in Taranaki. And although there hasn't been high levels of rainfall there have been constant wet days, with some farmers begging for sunshine just to make the days less monotonous. Grass covers aren't looking very good for this time of year. Coastal farms will be near, if not started mating ...those closer to the mountain than the sea are still about three weeks away from the mating season yet. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details