Sheep farmer Iain Wright says he can't remember the last time he saw puddles and mud on his 400 hectare Harwarden farm in north Canterbury.
More than 63mm of rain has fallen across his drought stricken land in the last four days.
"It's going to give us a bit of security in the next month or so that we will get a wee bit of growth, it's just a pat on the back from mother nature to keep going for another month," he says.
North Canterbury farmers have been stuck in a dry spell for nearly three years. It's impacted farming operations severely - with many having to sell off stock and buy expensive supplementary feed.
Federated Farmers says many in the North Canterbury region are hopeful this significant rainfall could spell the end of the big dry.
"The fact this is our second decent downpour within a week is really positive and I'd say cautious, because we have been here before in this drought sequence but they will be looking with a little bit of relief and hopeful optimism we are coming to the end of this," says Federated Farmers Lynda Murchison.
Mr Wright says you only have to look out across this paddock to see what difference a few days of rain makes.
"Some of these more drought tolerant plants have come away a little bit stronger, and it's just freshened up any grass that was sitting there waiting to go really."
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