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Federated Farmers say the drought has broken in the Bay of Plenty,
and farmers there are celebrating.
Up to 100mm of rain has fallen in some areas,
an immense sense of relief for farmers who saw it as a chance
for grass growth and are now hopeful of getting further rainfall.
Hinerangi Goodman spoke to Derek Spratt,
chairman of the BOP Rural Farms Support Trust
and a spokesman for Te Arawa tribal lands.
A sense of immense relief among many farmers.
The grass has begun growing again
in paddocks such as this one belonging to Te Arawa.
To see the grass growing green again
is a sign the rain is here
and will continue for days and weeks,
so our animals will not suffer from thirst.
However this perhaps is the time to revisit what had happened,
and to begin planning ahead for next summer
to ensure another big dry does not happen again.
Maori and Pakeha should work together
to find ways of storing more water.
During the big dry, rising costs to farmers
were estimated to be at an all-time high.
Our view is if the animals have survived,
then it's a success.
We don't measure it in the billions of dollars that Pakeha do.
The solution to all these problems lies in no other realm
but in Mother Earth and Sky Father's hands.
Hinerangi Goodman, Te Karere.