Intensive Winter Grazing

What are forage crops and what are some examples?

Annual forage crops are crops grazed in the place where they are grown, including cereals (such as sorghum, barley, oats, ryecorn and triticale), brassicas (such as kale, turnips and swedes) and fodder beet.

If you are growing cereals, brassicas or fodder beet for grazing by stock during winter, it is a forage crop.

What if I am growing a mixture of annual forage crops and other crops?

If the mix is more pasture than it is fodder crop, then it will be treated as pasture. For example, if it is 80% pasture and 20% fodder then it will not be treated as an annual forage crop. However, if it is 60% fodder and 40% pasture then it will be
treated as an annual forage crop.

Is an annual ryegrass defined as an annual forage crop?

No, annual ryegrass is not considered an annual forage crop.

What if I manage my cereal crops in a way that means that they re-grow after grazing and do not require re-sowing?

If you manage your cereal crops in a way that means that after grazing the crop re-grows and is harvested or grazed again without re-sowing, they will not be considered annual forage crops.

Rule 26(4)(b), National Environmental Standards for Freshwater: The slope of any land under an annual forage crop that is used for intensive winter grazing must be 10 degrees or less, determined by measuring the slope over any 20m distance of the land.

Does the whole paddock have to be less than 10 degrees if only part of the paddock is planted in annual forage crop?

No, the less than 10 degrees requirement only applies to the area planted in annual forage crop. The slope must be less than 10 degrees in the steepest area of the cropped area, measured over 20m.

You may also want to consider Good Management Practices to avoid sediment loss in areas less than ten degrees slope and include these actions in your
Winter Grazing Plan.

See Beef + Lamb, DairyNZ, and Ministry for Primary Industries websites for winter grazing plan resources:

Winter grazing/ Forage crop grazing

Wintering

Intensive winter grazing

How do I measure slope?

One method of measuring slope is to put two standards approximately 20m apart
and then measure from the top of one peg to the top of the other using a
clinometer or slope measurement app or tool.
The video below explains how to measure slope in your winter grazing paddocks.

How do I measure slope in paddocks with humps and hollows?

Slope is measured between two points in a paddock 20 m apart, rather than on each hump and hollow.

How will the council check slope on my farm?

To be a permitted activity, the slope of any land under an annual forage crop that is used for intensive winter grazing must be 10 degrees or less, determined by measuring the slope over any 20 m distance of the land. The Councils will use a
clinometer or a mobile phone app or tool. Councils may also have drones, aircraft and high-resolution digital elevation maps available in some areas.

Rule 26(4)(d), National Environmental Standards for Freshwater: livestock must be kept at least 5 m away from the bed of any river, lake, wetland, or drain
(regardless of whether there is any water in it at the time)

How wide should my buffers be?

You must have a buffer of at least 5m from areas of grazed forage crop and rivers, lakes, wetlands or drains. This buffer is regardless of whether they contain water or not. A 5m buffer is the minimum legal requirement. However, regional rules may require you to have wider buffer widths so you need to check with your Regional Council.

You may also want to consider wider buffers as good practice. The good practice rule of thumb is, the steeper the slope, the wider the buffer should be.

Examples of vegetated buffers

Where do I measure the buffer distance from?

The 5m buffer must be measured from the edge of the bed for rivers and lakes. This is measured from where the river reaches its fullest flow without overtopping its banks. Speak to your Regional Council for help on measuring buffers from wetlands. The aim is to avoid winter grazing in wet areas. If in doubt, be conservative and put in wider buffers and keep stock out of these areas.

What is a wetland?

A wetland includes permanently or intermittently wet areas, shallow water, and land water margins that support a natural ecosystem of plants and animals that are adapted to wet conditions. Identification of whether an area is a wetland may
require expert advice from an ecologist. Contact your regional council for advice.

What about sub-surface drains?

Sub-surface drains are exempt from the buffer requirement (no buffer required).

Rule 26A(1), National Environmental Standards for Freshwater: A person using land on a farm for intensive winter grazing in accordance with regulation 26 must take all reasonably practicable steps to minimise adverse effects on freshwater of
any pugging that occurs on that land.

The rule says I have to take all reasonably practicable steps to minimise adverse effects on freshwater from pugging - how do I show this?

Pugging can result in loss of sediment and other contaminants to water bodies during rainfall events. Areas at greater risk of pugging and loss of contaminants to water bodies are:

• Paddocks with Critical Source Areas (see FAQs on Critical Source Areas above) where surface water flow can enter water bodies
• Paddocks with steep slopes and/or poorly drained soils
• Areas around gates and water troughs.

Consider the following actions to help you minimise effects on freshwater:

• Careful paddock selection,
• Careful paddock preparation and using reduced or no till cultivation such as direct drilling where appropriate, to retain soil structure and improve
  soil resilience.
• Management of stock during grazing. For example, ensure stock begin grazing the least risky parts of the paddock first to minimise the period of
  runoff risk. This usually means that stock should enter at the top of paddock catchments/gullies and graze their way downhill.
• Strategic grazing principles such as directional grazing and backfencing
• Placement of water troughs and supplementary feed in areas less prone to pugging and away from waterways
• Use of grass strips within paddock to trap sediment
• Where appropriate leave some vegetated cover to help protect soils
• Having a plan B for adverse weather events, for example avoiding using higher-risk areas during these times.
• Ensuring there are appropriately sized vegetated buffers, ideally grassed.
• As a rule of thumb, the steeper the slope the wider the buffer should be.
• Avoiding grazing Critical Source Areas (see Critical Source Area FAQs)
• Using sediment traps or placing hay bales at the bottom of Critical Source Areas to trap sediment.

Plan and implement actions using a Winter Grazing Plan to show you have taken all reasonably practicable steps to minimise adverse effects from pugging on freshwater:

You can also use before and after photos of paddocks used for winter grazing, to show how you have managed the paddock to minimise pugging and loss of sediment to freshwater.

This photo shows how buffers have been left between areas used for winter grazing and
Critical Source Areas to avoid loss of sediment and other contaminants to water.

What should I do if things are going wrong?

It is always better to talk to your regional council early if things go wrong. Your Regional Council can advise you on what to do. Your farm advisor, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb extension staff can also provide support and resources.

Rule 26B, National Environmental Standards for Freshwater: A person using land on a farm for intensive winter grazing in accordance with regulation 26 must ensure that vegetation is established as ground cover over the whole area of that land as soon as practicable after livestock have finished grazing the land.

What does ‘as soon as practicable’ mean and how do I show I’ve re-sown as soon as practicable?

The term ‘as soon as practicable’ is not defined in the rules. However, you can use your Winter Grazing Plan to demonstrate to Councils you have re-sown paddocks used for intensive winter grazing as soon as practicable.

Councils will want to see the following in your Winter Grazing Plan:

1. Your planned re-sowing date.
2.  Any factors that may delay this re-sowing date, such as paddocks are too wet, contractors are not available, bad weather is forecast.
3. Actions you will take to minimise loss of sediment during any delay periods. For example, placing haybales in swales and leaving rank grass
   buffers in place.

Rule 29, National Environmental Standards for Freshwater: The conditions are
that—

(a) land on the farm must have been used for  intensive winter grazing in the reference period; and

(b) at all times, the area of the farm that is used for intensive winter grazing must be no greater than the maximum area of the farm that was used for intensive
winter grazing in the reference period.

Do I need to have used the same paddock for IWG previously?

You need to have used land on the farm for intensive winter grazing from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019. It does not have to be the same paddock. You must not have increased the size of the area used for intensive winter grazing in any one winter between 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019.

If you are unsure about the rules, please check with us.