Canterbury farmers fear drought as region driest in a decade

Tue, 06 Jan 2015

By Suze Metherell Jan. 6 (BusinessDesk) - Canterbury is on the verge of a 20th century-style drought with the southern region the driest it has been in a decade, forcing farmers to sell surplus stock and leading to restrictions on irrigation as the area waits for rain. Soil moisture in eastern and southern Canterbury is between severely and extremely drier than normal, while the outlook for rain remains light, according to data from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa). The region, which suffered crippling droug...

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