The forewarning of the declaration of drought in the Waikato was truckloads of skinny cows turning up in the sale yards because farmers were struggling to feed their herds.
There's been no such signal in the Bay of Plenty.

Cows for sale at a Morrinsville yard in March.

Cattle from Katikati to Opotiki and south to Reporoa are sold at Rangiuru, and PGG Wrightson stock agent Neil Penman says they have all been in very good order.
"We have been quite surprised at the quality of the cows coming through," says Neil.
"We haven't seen any shockers."

He attributes the ongoing good condition of the cattle showing at Rangiuru to palm kernel, plus good management and skilled use of the variety of management tools now available to farmers.
"It's a different breed now, they are onto it from the word go," says Neil.
Bay of Plenty farmers are also more likely to be farm owners, and more settled.
"People move to the Bay and they don't leave," says Neil.
"You don't have the concentration of sharemilkers under pressure and stuff like that.

"We've been declared a dry area, but most farmers are very skilled. They will be using supplementary feeds, different rotations on their property with grazing - so it's all skilled management really.
"Conditions haven't been particularly good in the Bay for the last three years. A lot of areas they dry out all the time."