We're a week into winter, but several parts of the country are battling drought - including Wairarapa, Tasman, and parts of Canterbury.
The Hurunui district in particular is facing dry conditions, wildfires and even the threat of snow.
Its bleached countryside is usually synonymous with summer.
"It's definitely dry," said Dan Hodgen, a sheep and beef farmer in Hawarden.
Much drier than it should be one week into winter, especially when it looked much greener by this time last year.
"We were north of 20 degrees on the weekend. It should be green and lush all around the place but as you can see it's not, crops are doing very little and the grass hasn't grown in months," Hodgen told Newshub
A fodder beet plantation on his farm is yielding four tonnes, compared to its usual 20 tonnes.
"We'll get through this, but you're really doing a year for nothing or giving the positives back from the last couple, so hard work," he said.
A drought was declared in March, with the dryness exacerbated by other factors.
"Interest rates, things like that are hard. If you have to borrow money to buy feed that has to come from a long way - the cost of the transport is high, the price of the product, the stock, is low so it's a bit of a perfect storm," Hodgen said.
The alternative is to reduce stock numbers.
During the previous drought, ewes sold for $140 each - but this time that could be halved.
"The cost of sending a unit of ewes down to Southland for grazing by the time you truck them back it's almost the value of the animal which really makes it hard for those economic decisions," said Karl Dean, president of Federated Farmers North Canterbury.
They're decisions that filter through to the wider community.
"We're a primary producing area, this is our goal, this is what we do but there are certainly concerns around the knock-on effect to the economy in the Hurunui District," said Marie Black, mayor of Hurunui district.
It's a challenge for farmers - but also the fire service, since a wildfire swept through scrub on the first day of winter.
"It does worry me because the last thing we could afford now is the last little bit of feed to get burnt now," said Hodgen.
And no rain doesn't mean no snow.
"If we got snowfall for two or three days or a week that would place some extra demand on some already fragile feed stores," said Black.
