July 13, 2025 • 5 mins
We catch up with a Tasman dairy farmer who’s been at the coal face of the devastating flooding at the top of the Motueka River, as the region reels from two horrendous floods in two weeks.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we've all been watching with great sadness what's happened
in the Tasman Nelson region. We're going to head to
the cold Face now to catch up with a Tasman
dairy farmer, Kevin Freeman, at the top end of the
Mochhoueca River, one of the worst affected areas. Kevin, I
think you and your family have been in the valley
for thirty years. It's the worst you've seen. How bad
(00:21):
is it?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, it's pretty disgusting. It's pretty disheartening being close to
springtime where we're in about to be anndated with cars
and all the excitement of a season, and then it's
a bit of work to do before that even happens.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Is there any horticulture near you, because what I've been seeing,
certainly online and on the national TV networks has been
particularly Some of those hop farmers have been absolutely thrashed.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
YEP, with all their poles, wires, wise, whatever else. It's
a pretty good trap for everything. There's a hot farmer
where it's just below us, and one of the bends
in the river has come out and moved probably fifty
odd meters and started actually eating into his hot garden.
So and that's across access ways and other land as well.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Deairy farming fences are a wee bit more resilient than,
for instance, sheep farming fences or deer farming fences because
there's less wires on them. How have you survived? How
many fences have you lost? Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's case so since the first event, I've had two
to two and a half staff, like a three staff,
two and a half staff, and they've been flat out
busy for since it's happened. And then the flood that
has happened just last Friday ended up with probably put
(01:52):
us back another week's worth of work again. And it's
just like some of these fences that's like fall right off,
scratch it out and start again.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It must be absolutely soul destroying for you farmers. Okay,
you've had a one off event a couple of weeks ago,
Well you were told it was a one off event,
and then within the space or less than two weeks later,
you get another one of these one off events and
it's just basically undone all the repatriation work that you'd done.
That is sol destroying.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. And yeah the second event, because everything
was sodden and we had clear the reasonable portion of
the culvits, but they will fill back up and then
with the wind on the second event, it's brought down
trees across enses as well, So that's just another edit.
It's not just floodwork. It's now cutting off trees and
(02:45):
those senses have broken wires and broken posts and everything else.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
What can the rest of the country do effectively to
help you guys out?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh well, I was to go into Wellington today. I
say that we need to ease up our I'm being
able to dig out of rivers rock because there's plenty
of rock that's come out of the banks so far
and it would be very nice to put that back
on our roads. Ah what else can I do? I
(03:14):
don't know. Yeah, there's it's skilled labor is really what
a lot of the moder Waker region needs. And the
fact of the help with fencing. There's equipment. It's tracks
and post drivers because there's plenty of forestry cruis in
Nelson and they'll be very well busy with wind four.
(03:38):
But yes, skilled operators to actually bring things out and
making them.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
How far off carving are you?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Ah? Well, we've had a couple of early ones so
there's actually a couple of calves already, but we've planned
starters about twenty six, twenty eighth. Yeah, okay, we can't coming.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, timings are not that flash. What about access, because
it's one thing that damage is on farm, but then
it's another thing getting access to the farm, especially once
you start carving and milking dairy tankers for instance.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Is that okay, Well, where it's gone across the road,
it's pulled up all the tars heel and yeah, the
roads are definitely rough, not that it's going to limit
access too much, but you do worry that as certain
as there's any other small scale event, it'll block access again.
And that's where we can't really control. But it's because
(04:36):
we've had so much rain in such a short time
that it carries on. You know, the trees fall easy,
their slips come down easy. There's rock fall, there's unstable ground,
The bridges have been maybe compromised. It's starting to get
close to the approach on the bridge that's just down
the road from us. The state highway has been they've
(05:00):
rebuilt spud banks and then it's been rewashed out again
in the second event. So it's where running on a
nice edge is what it is. That it's not necessarily
going to happen, but if there is even small events
that will happen.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Kevin Freeman, I know you're flat out. I know you
need to get back out onto the farm and try
and tidy things up before carving. Thanks for some of
your time, and you guys really need a bit of
a helping hand from mother Nature more than anybody, and
I hope it's coming your way. We'll discuss that a
week bit later in the hour with our weather guy
Phil Dunk and good luck.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Thank you very much, Jamie
Well, we've all been watching with great sadness what's happened
in the Tasman Nelson region. We're going to head to
the cold Face now to catch up with a Tasman
dairy farmer, Kevin Freeman, at the top end of the
Mochhoueca River, one of the worst affected areas. Kevin, I
think you and your family have been in the valley
for thirty years. It's the worst you've seen. How bad
(00:21):
is it?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Yeah, it's pretty disgusting. It's pretty disheartening being close to
springtime where we're in about to be anndated with cars
and all the excitement of a season, and then it's
a bit of work to do before that even happens.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Is there any horticulture near you, because what I've been seeing,
certainly online and on the national TV networks has been
particularly Some of those hop farmers have been absolutely thrashed.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
YEP, with all their poles, wires, wise, whatever else. It's
a pretty good trap for everything. There's a hot farmer
where it's just below us, and one of the bends
in the river has come out and moved probably fifty
odd meters and started actually eating into his hot garden.
So and that's across access ways and other land as well.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Deairy farming fences are a wee bit more resilient than,
for instance, sheep farming fences or deer farming fences because
there's less wires on them. How have you survived? How
many fences have you lost? Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
It's case so since the first event, I've had two
to two and a half staff, like a three staff,
two and a half staff, and they've been flat out
busy for since it's happened. And then the flood that
has happened just last Friday ended up with probably put
(01:52):
us back another week's worth of work again. And it's
just like some of these fences that's like fall right off,
scratch it out and start again.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
It must be absolutely soul destroying for you farmers. Okay,
you've had a one off event a couple of weeks ago,
Well you were told it was a one off event,
and then within the space or less than two weeks later,
you get another one of these one off events and
it's just basically undone all the repatriation work that you'd done.
That is sol destroying.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, definitely, definitely. And yeah the second event, because everything
was sodden and we had clear the reasonable portion of
the culvits, but they will fill back up and then
with the wind on the second event, it's brought down
trees across enses as well, So that's just another edit.
It's not just floodwork. It's now cutting off trees and
(02:45):
those senses have broken wires and broken posts and everything else.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
What can the rest of the country do effectively to
help you guys out?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh well, I was to go into Wellington today. I
say that we need to ease up our I'm being
able to dig out of rivers rock because there's plenty
of rock that's come out of the banks so far
and it would be very nice to put that back
on our roads. Ah what else can I do? I
(03:14):
don't know. Yeah, there's it's skilled labor is really what
a lot of the moder Waker region needs. And the
fact of the help with fencing. There's equipment. It's tracks
and post drivers because there's plenty of forestry cruis in
Nelson and they'll be very well busy with wind four.
(03:38):
But yes, skilled operators to actually bring things out and
making them.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
How far off carving are you?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Ah? Well, we've had a couple of early ones so
there's actually a couple of calves already, but we've planned
starters about twenty six, twenty eighth. Yeah, okay, we can't coming.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, timings are not that flash. What about access, because
it's one thing that damage is on farm, but then
it's another thing getting access to the farm, especially once
you start carving and milking dairy tankers for instance.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Is that okay, Well, where it's gone across the road,
it's pulled up all the tars heel and yeah, the
roads are definitely rough, not that it's going to limit
access too much, but you do worry that as certain
as there's any other small scale event, it'll block access again.
And that's where we can't really control. But it's because
(04:36):
we've had so much rain in such a short time
that it carries on. You know, the trees fall easy,
their slips come down easy. There's rock fall, there's unstable ground,
The bridges have been maybe compromised. It's starting to get
close to the approach on the bridge that's just down
the road from us. The state highway has been they've
(05:00):
rebuilt spud banks and then it's been rewashed out again
in the second event. So it's where running on a
nice edge is what it is. That it's not necessarily
going to happen, but if there is even small events
that will happen.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Kevin Freeman, I know you're flat out. I know you
need to get back out onto the farm and try
and tidy things up before carving. Thanks for some of
your time, and you guys really need a bit of
a helping hand from mother Nature more than anybody, and
I hope it's coming your way. We'll discuss that a
week bit later in the hour with our weather guy
Phil Dunk and good luck.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Thank you very much, Jamie
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