The Ministry for Primary Industries is keen to hear from Southland farmers who can help their Canterbury comrades hit by drought and floods.  

Widespread flooding caused by an historic one-in-200-year rainfall event caused significant damage to thousands of hectares across the region in late May and early June, after record-breaking drought conditions over summer.

MPI's director of Rural Communities and Farming Support Nick Story says he's visited farms where pasture and winter fodder crops have been buried under flood debris. 

"This event has been an extremely challenging situation for farmers," he says. 

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"The worst affected farms have a need for alternative grazing for their sheep, beef cattle and dairy cows.”

MPI's national Feed Coordination Service has been expanded to help find grazing, distribute donated feed, and connect people with surplus feed to farmers who need it.

"Our feed coordinators had more than 35 additional requests from flood-affected farmers in the first half of June who need grazing and feed," Story says.

"It's likely the worst flood-affected paddocks will be unusable for some time, so we expect demand will increase further as we move through the winter.

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"The service is keen to hear from people who may be able to help with grazing, especially those in Otago, Southland or the West Coast." 

People with surplus feed or grazing, or farmers who need support to do a feed plan, are encouraged to call 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) or to register online.