Growing Winter Crops
Winter Feed Crops: Management Before Grazing
This fact sheet focuses on good management practices. Good wintering practices will ensure that animals are adequately and cost-effectively fed whilst impacts on their welfare and the environment are minimised. Achieving these goals does however require attention to some important planning considerations.
Top Tips for Crop Paddock Selection
Pasture renewal shouldn’t be top priority when selecting a winter crop paddock. Other factors to consider should include: reducing the risk of contaminant loss, maintaining animal welfare standards, and complying with regulations
Planning (September to December)
Winter planning is crucial for setting up for a successful winter. Consider all the below aspects in the planning stage.
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Setting up (January to April)
Setting up your winter grazing paddocks early will reduce the loss and movement of sediment in winter.
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Planning for winter: Best options for deer and their environment
Integrated pest management - Monitoring your brassica crops
Video - Monitor your brassicas crops to determine appropriate use of an integrated pest management system
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
Forage cropping management
A full winter forage crop growing and grazing guide intended to be filled in and added to a farm environmental management plan.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Break Fed Wintering
Winter grazing/ Forage crop grazing
Good environmental outcomes require good environmental practice. Farmers are already doing some great work in the environment space, but there is still much to be done. Managing winter grazing so it has minimal impact on waterways is an area that can be addressed with some forward planning and simple management tweaks.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Wintering feed systems for deer
A complete deer focused wintering page including planning, designing and operating a winter feeding system. This includes crop based wintering and feed pads
PROVIDER
DINZ
Fertiliser use on New Zealand Forage crops
A practical guide on forage crop soil fertility and fertiliser requirements
PROVIDER
Fertiliser Association of New Zealand
Grazing Winter Crops
Management and review (May to August)
Daily management and reviewing of your wintering practices ensures any gaps or issues identified can be actioned quickly and easily.
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Intensive winter feeding: Minimising the environmental risk
Managing winter crop grazing on deer farms to minimise soil and nutrient losses in deer systems
PROVIDER
DINZ
Sustainable winter dairy grazing on arable farms
Winter dairy grazing provides good cash flow to arable farmers and is seen as a mitigation option for nutrient management by the dairy sector. This project collected information from farmers across the North and South Islands about the perceived risks and current management practices for winter grazing.
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
Winter Grazing Action Group - Expected Outcomes for Animal Welfare
This document provides guidance for animal welfare while grazing winter crops. The suggestions are not legal minimum standards or requirements – and are intended to give confidence to farmers who are already meeting or exceeding industry expectations and provide suggestions for improvement to those who still have a way to go. The sole focus of the advice below is animal welfare; however, there are also environmental responsibilities and requirements which farmers need to follow when making their winter grazing plans.
PROVIDER
Ministry for Primary Industries
Creating a winter grazing plan
Use this guide to create your own paddock specific winter grazing plan
PROVIDER
Thriving Southland
Good management practice for winter grazing podcast
Podcast - Ross Monaghan, Soil Scientist at AgResearch, discusses taking care of stock, soils and water in winter grazing scenarios
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Winter Feed Crops: Management During Grazing
This fact sheet focuses on good management practices. It is essential to consider how to reduce nutrient and contaminant losses to streams and waterways as well as minimising damage to soils and paddocks.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Strategic grazing of winter crops
Video - West Otago farmer, Simon O'Meara speaks about strategic grazing of winter crops to help reduce sediment and nutrient loss into waterways.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Reducing surface runoff from grazed winter forage crop paddocks by strategic grazing management
Research results showing the effect of good critical source area management in a winter grazing scenario
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Forage cropping management
https://beeflambnz.com/knowled...A full winter forage crop growing and grazing guide intended to be filled in and added to a farm environmental management plan.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Break Fed Wintering
Winter grazing/ Forage crop grazing
Good environmental outcomes require good environmental practice. Farmers are already doing some great work in the environment space, but there is still much to be done. Managing winter grazing so it has minimal impact on waterways is an area that can be addressed with some forward planning and simple management tweaks.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Wintering feed systems for deer
A complete deer focused wintering page including planning, designing and operating a winter feeding system. This includes crop based wintering and feed pads
PROVIDER
DINZ
Catch Crops
Catch Crops: A way to reduce N leaching after winter crops, with Dr Brendon Malcolm, Plant & Food Research
Podcast - Sowing a short-term crop after a winter fodder crop may reduce N leaching by 40-50%. On this Beef + Lamb New Zealand ‘Scene + Herd’ podcast, Brendon Malcolm of Plant & Food Research discusses how it works, the issues to consider and how to get the best results.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Catch Cropping
A video interviewing Dylan Ditchfield who explains his experience with Catch Cropping
PROVIDER
Environment Southland
A guide to catch and cover crops
How can planting a catch or cover crop benefit your farm and the environment?
PROVIDER
Environment Southland
Winter Feed Crops: Management After Grazing
Careful management of paddocks after winter grazing can reduce damage to soil structure and loss in productivity, while reducing further environmental losses that could potentially affect water quality.|
VISIT SITE
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Break Fed Wintering
Winter grazing/ Forage crop grazing
Good environmental outcomes require good environmental practice. Farmers are already doing some great work in the environment space, but there is still much to be done. Managing winter grazing so it has minimal impact on waterways is an area that can be addressed with some forward planning and simple management tweaks.
PROVIDER
Beef and Lamb New Zealand
Off Paddock Wintering
Wintering feed systems for deer
A complete deer focused wintering page including planning, designing and operating a winter feeding system. This includes crop based wintering and feed pads
PROVIDER
DINZ
Off-paddock facility selector
Loose housed barn - soft bedding material
This is a fully covered facility, usually built with plastic or steel roofing. This site explains the benefits and limitations of the system, design considerations and advisor tips on how to maximise the system benefits
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Loose housed barn - slatted concrete
A fully covered facility, usually with a plastic film over a frame type roof and a concrete slatted floor covering an effluent holding bunker, large enough to hold the effluent for extended periods. This site explains the benefits and limitations of the system, design considerations and advisor tips on how to maximise the system benefits
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Freestall barn
These are permanent, engineered structures, in which dairy cattle are housed and provided with their daily dietary requirements and water. They may be open air, partially or fully enclosed. This site explains the benefits and limitations of the system, design considerations and advisor tips on how to maximise the system benefits
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Stand off pad
A stand-off pad is a purpose built, drained loafing area where stock can be held for long periods when it is not suitable to have them on pasture. This site explains the benefits and limitations of the system, design considerations and advisor tips on how to maximise the system benefits
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Permanent Feedpad
A feedpad is used for regular supplementary feeding and loafing of cattle on an area of land that is either formed with a solid foundation and/or concreted to establish a permanent facility.
PROVIDER
DairyNZ
Arable and Horticultural Crops
FAR - Nutrient management strategies for wheat, barley and ryegrass seeds
Integrated Pest Management
Routine use of broad-spectrum insecticides can result in insecticides being applied unnecessarily, the enhanced development of insecticide resistance and the loss of beneficial insects. This in turn can lead to pest outbreaks and increased dependence on insecticides. Integrated pest management (IPM) offers an opportunity to move away from a routine broad-spectrum insecticide-based approach to pest management.
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
FAR - better biodiversity on arable farms
Covers developing biodiversity plantings - planning and costs and the beneficial insects associated with the plantings.
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
FAR - developing a biosecurity plan for an arable farm
A farm Biosecurity Register is a great way of reducing the risk of unwanted weeds, pests and diseases arriving on your doorstep. Do you have one? Find out more!
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
Soil Quality on Southland Cropping Farms
This 2004 report is the product of a Sustainable Farming Fund programme and was written by staff at Crop & Food Research (now Plant & Food Research). It describes a version of the soil quality management system (SQMS) that was developed specifically for use on Southland arable and mixed cropping farms.
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
Nutrient Management for Vegetable Crops in New Zealand
This book is intended to be a resource of best-practice advice to manage the nutrition of vegetable crops in New Zealand (NZ). The emphasis is firmly on practices that are scientifically defensible.
PROVIDER
Fertiliser Association of New Zealand
Managing soil fertility on cropping farms
Broadacre cropping is dominated by the production of cereal grains and pulses which are the staple crops for our population. As such society demands a reliable supply of high quality products. To meet these requirements while achieving an economically viable livelihood arable farmers have tended to invest in heavily mechanised high input crop production systems for which the maintenance of strong soil fertility is critical.
PROVIDER
Fertiliser Association of New Zealand
E-Check - the arable Greenhouse Gas Calculator
E-Check is a greenhouse gas emissions calculator which has been developed specifically for use in arable and mixed arable systems.
PROVIDER
FAR - Foundation for Arable Research
CATCHMENT GROUPS
APARIMA CG - ACE
ACE COMMUNITY PROJECT
Workstream 1
Stream Walks
Water testing
Workstream 2
Good Farming Practices
Workstream 3
Sediment Trap
