Southland has recorded its wettest winter since 1980, and the government has responded by classifying extreme wet and cold conditions across the region and the Clutha District as a medium-scale adverse event.

Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Rural Communities Minister Mark Patterson announced the classification on Thursday, unlocking a support package for farming communities in Southland and parts of Otago that have endured weeks of relentless rain and unseasonal snow through calving and lambing.

"Southland has had its wettest winter since 1980," McClay said.

Up to $50,000 will go to the Southland and Otago Rural Support Trusts to provide more help on the ground, including recovery and wellbeing events. The classification also unlocks tax relief, including more flexible timing of tax payments, and enables the Ministry of Social Development to consider Rural Assistance Payments for farmers who cannot meet essential living costs.

Figures from NIWA show Central Southland recorded 289mm of rain across August and September — 114% more than the usual rainfall for those two months. It is the region's third consecutive spring of challenging adverse weather, including heavy rain and unseasonal snowfalls, stacking pressure onto an already demanding season.

For Wyndham dairy farmer Davin Heaps, the numbers are brutally concrete. A nearby river has breached its banks three times in recent weeks, leaving about a third of his farm underwater.

"I just hope that this forecast stays on a positive side, because we're all out of supplement feeds, we've got no winter tucker left, and we've actually eaten into some of their summer stuff now," he said. "We're way behind, about 15% behind in our production."

That feed deficit is the critical field-level consequence. When winter supplements run out and farmers start eating into summer feed reserves, recovery depends entirely on how pasture responds once soils dry — and with a third of some farms underwater, that regrowth window keeps slipping.

Chad Hoggard, director of On Farm Support at the Ministry for Primary Industries, said regional staff were working closely with sector groups, regional councils and local Rural Support Trusts to deliver on-the-ground help.

"We understand the relentless wet and cold weather has been tough on farmers, growers, rural communities, and animals across Southland and parts of Otago," he said. "This takes a toll and I encourage people to check-in with their family, neighbours, staff, and to ask for help if you, or someone you know, needs it."

Hoggard said MPI had been supporting farmers to prepare for El Niño for months, released an on-farm wet weather checklist in June, and was collaborating with the Southland Rural Coordination Group and Otago Rural Advisory Group to determine whether further assistance is required.

Federated Farmers' Southland provincial president Chris Dillon welcomed the government relief funding. He said pasture bases had been severely affected, creating feed shortages for livestock, while arable farmers struggled with ground conditions.

"When you think the end was in sight, it's just got a lot worse," he said. "But the Rural Support Trust has done a great job of holding farm events to keep the morale of people up."

Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds said she had been "stopped in my tracks" by the volume of standing water on local farmland.

"The paddocks are saturated, stock are making mud, feed is getting short, the days are long and for many of our farming families the pressure is really starting to build," she said.

Simmonds said that while she could not fix the weather, she reminded locals they were not alone, pointing to community support initiatives such as a farmers' lunch in Dipton and local businesses delivering meals and coffee.

"The Southland Rural Support Trust, MPI, Federated Farmers, DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb and Thriving Southland have also swung into action — focussing on people, animals, feed and property," she said.

Farmers in the affected zones should now watch for the rollout of Rural Assistance Payment applications through MSD, engage with Rural Support Trust events funded by the new package, and track the Southland Rural Coordination Group's assessment of whether further assistance tiers will follow.