ENVIRONMENT DAIRYNZ
Preparation for next winter starts now Words by: Ashley Greenwood
cow intake, the number of days on crop, and supplementary feed requirements. inter this year presented Appropriate paddock selection also its own set of challenges, affects the crop’s yield, as well as the with many farmers establishment and growing costs. throughout the South Look back at previous winters and at Island being affected by flooding, causing the paddock history. pasture damage and loss of supplementary To grow high-yielding winter crops, feed. it’s good to know the paddock’s soil While we can hope next year the fertility, alongside the weed and weather will work in our favour, pest history. Paddocks react we also need to prepare for the differently and finding the worst, and the issues that arise ones that hold up well in rain every winter. is beneficial. This can take extra planning, Taking these points into but spring is a good time to consideration helps paint a consider how to set ourselves clear picture of the paddock, Ashley Greenwood. up. Talking with farmers recently, whether it is good for winter we discussed a few things to start grazing and how to best manage thinking about now to prepare for a it throughout winter. successful winter next year.
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PADDOCK SELECTION
One of the first considerations when planning for next winter is to choose the right wintering paddock, as this affects your ability to manage the environment and animals successfully. There are many important factors to consider when deciding which paddocks to graze cows on next winter. This includes looking at what area you need to plant, factoring in expected crop yield, 70
CRITICAL SOURCE AREA MANAGEMENT
Slopes, critical source areas (CSAs) and waterways in paddocks need to be considered. A key step is identifying the CSAs. These are parts of the landscape, such as swales and gullies, where overland flow and seepage converges to form small channels of running water. This creates a risk of potential contaminant loss flowing into streams or rivers.
Identifying CSAs in spring will enable you to manage them well or disregard the paddock as unsuitable for wintering. Identifying these CSAs and managing them using buffer zones can significantly reduce losses to surface and groundwater. Take note of CSAs that appear in winter, to help improve your planning during spring. “Each winter, after some heavy rain, I look at the paddocks I am hoping to crop next year. I mark out the CSAs then with fence standards because sometimes they are harder to see in spring,” one of the farmers I recently talked to said. He has used this to make noticeable improvements on his farm to benefit the environment and his animals.
BUFFERS
Once you’ve identified CSAs, you should create grass buffers around the CSAs and at the bottom of slopes. The grass buffer acts as filtration of the CSA. If your crop is close (within five metres) to a CSA, consider a crop buffer, which is a strip of fenced-off crop, at least 5m wide, that will help filter and slow the run-off from the crop paddock into any CSAs. The size of your buffer will be determined by the slope, the amount and how fast flowing runoff is. This crop buffer can then be grazed last.
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | October 2021
