Farmers intensively grazing forage crops this winter are encouraged to finalise their Winter Grazing Plans and have all infrastructure in place before transitioning stock onto crops.
Dr Will Halliday, Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Senior Manager Technical Policy, says forage crops play an important role in keeping animals well-fed and healthy throughout the winter months, but it is important farmers assess and mitigate any risks associated with the practice.
“I strongly recommend farmers put together a Winter Grazing Plan which includes stock and crop management for each paddock. Ideally it should include factors such as direction of grazing, the placement of fences, troughs, supplementary feed, critical source areas, proximity to waterways, shelter, loafing areas and bad weather contingency plans.”
Dr Halliday says a Winter Grazing Plan helps with risk assessment and ensures the whole farm team knows what is required when intensively grazing forage crops this winter.
He says winter grazing practices have changed significantly over recent years as farmers have responded to the outcomes of research and industry messaging.
“Overall, farmers do a great job at looking after their livestock, their soils and their waterways and we are encouraging farmers to keep up the good work this winter.”
“As an industry, we want to demonstrate to regulators and the general public that when managed correctly, intensively grazed winter forage crops are a valuable tool that pose minimal risk to animal welfare and water quality.”
Dr Halliday says there are a number of winter grazing resources, including Winter Grazing Plan templates, on B+LNZ’s Knowledge Hub as well as winter grazing information on DairyNZ and many Regional Councils’ websites.
“There is a lot of information and support for farmers who are grazing winter forage crops, and we encourage farmers to tap into these resources or ring their regional council to get regional-specific information about their winter grazing practices.”
Related resources
Visit the Knowledge Hub to discover our resources on winter grazing.