• New wool season opens with correction

• Second storm hits flood-hit Wairarapa as farmers face months of recovery

• Marlborough drenched but bull sale season described as incredible

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New wool season opens with correction

The new wool season is underway, and after the historic highs of recent months, some give-back was always on the cards at the first auction of the season in Christchurch.

PGG Wrightson auction manager Dave Burridge says buyers were notably selective  this week— particularly for crossbred second shear and lambs wool — but puts the correction in context.

Prices are still broadly where they were five weeks ago, and the underlying market remains in good shape.

The national strong wool indicator dropped fifty-three cents, with seventy-five percent of the offering sold. Crossbred fleece in good style eased six percent to seven-dollars-twenty-five per kilogram clean, second shear fell eight percent, and lambs wool also dropped eight percent across the finer microns. Oddments took the biggest hit, down ten percent.

Mid-micron wool was the bright spot — a quality offering attracted solid trade support with halfbred fleece at twenty-eight micron holding well at ten-dollars-eighty-five per kilogram clean.

The next auction is July sixteenth.

Second storm hits flood-hit Wairarapa as farmers face months of recovery

Wairarapa farmers are assessing damage today after heavy rain hit the region overnight — the second significant weather event in less than a fortnight for a district still recovering from the last one.

It follows a storm less than two weeks ago that washed out a bridge, cut off nearly five-hundred families and submerged farmland across the area.

South Wairarapa councillor Aidan Ellims says the rain is landing on already sodden ground, with hillside farms scarred by slips from the previous event.

One farm received five-hundred millimetres over forty-eight hours.

Fences are down, pasture has been stripped and washed into rivers, and farmers are facing ten to twelve months of recovery work.

Deputy mayor Rob Taylor says the back-to-back weather has also hit the local economy hard, with Martinborough businesses and vineyards forced to close during what should be a busy Matariki period.

Marlborough drenched but bull sale season described as incredible

Meanwhile, Marlborough is also copping it — but the mood in the livestock sector there remains upbeat despite the challenging conditions.

Despite the weather, the region's bull sale season has been described as incredible — three-hundred-and-twenty-six bulls sold across six Marlborough sales over three days, with a further forty sold through Nelson.

Strong livestock prices and improved sheep and beef returns are driving confidence, with breeders being rewarded for quality and consistency.