Drought Response in the Grey Valley

Intensive dairying is a developing industry in the West Coast economy but has been a source of employment to the region since the early 1900s. Despite having the highest annual rainfall in the New Zealand, the West Coast is still subject to climatic variations and experiences drought-like conditions. The objective of this study is to evaluate the response strategies of farmers, industry and local authority during the 2012-2013 summer drought event and understand what approaches could be used to manage future drought conditions in the region. Three key responses by farmers were irrigation, on-farm and externally sourced supplementary feed, and dropping to once a day milking in the early stages of a drought event. The role of the industry and local government informants were primarily advisory, support and regulatory roles but did not participate on any farm level assistance.By creating policy to manage risk, drought vulnerability will decrease and the adverse impact of the water scarcity may be mitigated.