Farmers should look at disaster proofing themselves ahead of the summer months after last year's drought caused major losses, says Federated Farmers.

The official drought period ended this week with Minister of Primary Industries Nathan Guy announcing a total of 146 applications for Rural Assistance Payments have been granted this year with $814,277.32 in assistance paid.

Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust chairperson Derek Spratt says a favourable winter and spring is leaving famers optimistic heading into summer.

These are paid at an equivalent rate to the unemployment benefit and were available to those in extreme hardship.

A total of $320,000 in funding was made available to Rural Support Trusts, who have worked closely with farmers, providing support and guidance. Twenty-four of those came from the Bay of Plenty.

'I think last season is a good reminder that farmers need to be a bit more conscious of disaster proofing themselves,” says Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers president Rick Powdrell.

'Many in the North Island in this last drought had water issues; a lot of farmers still had feed, but they were having troubles with water. I think as much as we like to admit it we need to be conscious of proofing our systems for those sorts of stresses.”

A state of drought was declared in the Bay of Plenty on March 6 this year, followed by a nationwide drought declaration on March 15.

In July, the Ministry of Primary Industries released a report on the drought showing it is the most widespread drought in NZ since the 1972-73 drought that affected Wairarapa, Tasman, Otago and Southland.

The Bay of Plenty was named as one of the worst affected areas, along with southern Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Central North Island, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and parts of the north and west of the South Island.

Rick is unable to put an exact price tag on the overall drought for the region but suggests it resulted in significant financial and emotional strain on farmers.

'A lot of them have spent a lot of money on supplements through the drought and that has had a significant impact on their cash flows.

'When you have a drought you get a whole lot of ramifications like with the dairy guys it is the cost of feeding cows, lost production because of the feed quality and having to stop milking earlier.”

Bay of Plenty Rural Support Trust chairperson Derek Spratt believes Bay farmers handled themselves pretty well throughout the drought with only the 24 applications seeking financial assistance. Many of the applications were for herd managers and staff who were laid off by farmers due to the dry conditions.

'Farmers themselves did not take the offer up mainly because they could still carry themselves through and because of a bit of pride,” says Derek.

'But in times like these farmers shouldn't look just to their pride.”

Derek says things are looking positive with a favourable winter and spring allowing a considerable amount of grass growth leaving famers even more optimistic thanks to Fonterra's latest proposed dairy pay out.

Late last month the dairy giant announced it has increased its Forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the 2014 season by 50 cents to $8.30 per kgMS. The increase – along with an estimated dividend of 32 cents per share – amounts to a Forecast Cash Payout for 2014 of $8.62.

Statistics New Zealand figures released this week show the drought also influenced falls in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors of gross domestic product for the June quarter.

GDP rose 0.2 per cent in the quarter and follows a 0.4 per cent rise in the March quarter, when dry weather also slowed growth.

Between March and July agriculture dropped by 6.4 per cent, driven by a large fall in dairy farming – now falling 10.4 per cent since it peaked in the December 2012 quarter, as low rainfall has reduced production sector.