Photos from space taken a year apart show the stark affects of drought in Hawke's Bay.
A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) photo taken from May 2 last year is noticeably more green than the brown, dry looking Hawke's Bay on April 29 this year.
Over the last six months, Hawke's Bay has seen only a quarter of its expected rainfall.
For farmers, the drought means animal feed is scarce everywhere, with farmer Alistair Renton sending cows to the meatworks early since he can't keep feeding them.
"We've killed 600 ewes in lamb and bought in a lot of feed so there is not going to be a lot of income next year," he told 1 NEWS.
According to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), drought in some parts of the country this year rivals that of 2013 which was New Zealand's worst drought in decades.
NIWA reported that Hastings has so far this year seen 29 continuous days of drought compared to 33 days in 2013. In Waikato there were 61 continuous days of drought this year, just two short of the 2013 streak.
Meanwhile, Auckland topped records with 77 days of continuous drought this year.
SHARE ME