The weekend's rain hopefully marks the beginning of a weather pattern change which should relieve pressure on farmers, but more is needed before soil moisture levels are replenished.

Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers president John Scrimgeour welcomes rain that started on Saturday night and says it may mean herds which are still milking can remain in production for longer. However, a number of herds in the district have already been dried off.

Parched pastures like this one near Whakatane photographed on Saturday and the animals which graze it will benefit from the weekend's rain.

'The rain is very pleasing in itself but the fact that it is raining lifts people's spirits too which is also important.

'It was fortunate that we didn't get a big downpour as that would have led to run off, taking soil with it. What we don't need now is wind to strip the moisture from the ground.

'As I see it the rain marks a weather change with the days getting shorter and night temperatures cooler, which makes it slightly easier for the plants putting them in a stronger position for growth.”

Wet humid weather can increase the risk of the facial eczema disease in sheep and cattle, but John says even though animals are grazing close to the ground due to lack of grass, the hot dry conditions should mean a reduction in the numbers of spores that cause the disease.

Kiwifruit Vine Health CEO Barry O'Neil says the rain is welcomed by kiwifruit growers.

'There were a number of growers in a bad situation because they had no irrigation or were unable to use their irrigation systems because of water supply restrictions.”

However, while it doesn't like hot dry conditions, wet weather tends to favour the bacterial vine disease Psa-V. Barry says the rain was well forecast, including on the KVH website risk model, and most growers applied a protectant spray of copper before the rain.

'Members of the KVH board visited a number of Psa orchards at Katikati last week and we were pleased with what we saw with the crops tracking well towards harvest.”

While moisture is needed to help size the fruit on the vines, too much can cause splitting and also affect dry matters levels so an extended period of rain may mean the harvest could be a little later than anticipated, he says.