Wet, cold and wild Wairarapa summer | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Our dreary summer has not just been frustrating for holidaymakers, it's also left some Wairarapa tourist operators and farmers facing a bleak year.

Higher rainfall and lower temperatures are taking their toll, with some worried more wet weather could add to the gloom.

Mike McCreary has a cropping and finishing farm near Kahutara and said the rainfall this summer made the season his worst in a decade.

He said early summer rain had been merciless for some crops at planting and had left fields peppered with blank areas too water-logged for growth.

Late harvest crops would escape largely unscathed, but harvesting had begun on early varieties and the situation was bleak.

"We're heading into a wet harvest and our bottom lines are going to get knocked about. Wearing my cropping and finishing hat, it's my worst summer since I got here."

By contrast, the season has been golden for dairy, sheep and beef farmers and rain has spurred phenomenal grass growth, almost doubling silage yields.

"The way the weather is, the grass market is high and sheep and beef prices are over schedule. Lamb prices are really good and there's plenty of feed. For hill-country jokers and dairy, it's their season," Mr McCreary said.

"The rain hit us hard and the market can be as fickle as the weather. If the schedule doesn't hold - for us, it's all hurt."

Grape growers were also worried after high winds had affected production costs, said veteran Wairarapa viticultural consultant Nick Hoskins.

More rain and warm temperatures before the harvest in late March would also bring a threat of disease for a smaller-than-usual yield of fruit. But Mr Hoskins said the crop in the region was better than competitors, who were reporting low volumes of fruit.

"We're just keeping our fingers crossed there's reasonable weather from mid-February to harvest - warm and dry," he said.

Summer has not been kind to holiday camps in Castlepoint and Lake Ferry either.

Mary Tipoki, of the Lake Ferry Holiday Park, said the weather had hurt business. "Camping's been abysmal," she said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Lynell Ellis, Castlepoint Holiday Park and Motels manager, said the situation was similar in Castlepoint. "There's been lots of wind and rain - certainly not as good as last summer."

But Destination Wairarapa general manager David Hancock said feedback from restaurants, hotels and attractions had been positive.

Weather analyst Philip Duncan said the big difference from last summer was a lack of lingering highs.

"There's been few long hot spells and far more highs lasting a couple of days and then moving through quickly," he said. "It's been a lot cloudier and cooler ..."

Weather in the next week looks mixed, with highs from 19C-22C, with a chance of rain on six days.