MPI ramps up farm visits and advice ahead of 2025 winter grazing season

MPI's national response manager Andrew Curtis says they will prioritise visits to farms where it can be problematic to manage soil conditions during periods of wet weather. He says MPI's proactive, on-the-ground support aims to ensure better outcomes for livestock, the environment, and farmers.

"We'll be assessing these farms before livestock start grazing winter feed and they will be closely monitored to ensure they are meeting animal welfare standards. We will do follow-up visits in June," he says.

Curtis says they have also been working with regional councils and industry groups, especially in Otago and Southland, to develop practical information to help farmers prepare.

"This includes an information flyer that contains a winter grazing checklist. Extra support is available for Southland farmers around managing their animals and reducing mud build up should they need it. Most farmers work hard to do the right thing and have carefully planned ahead to look after their animals," he says.

According to Curtis, some farmers will need to continue adapting their approaches to ensure they have more robust back-up plans during extreme weather, which can come with little warning.

He says a well-planned winter grazing system supports good animal health and welfare. He says it ensures animals have sufficient and appropriate feed, access to clean water, and comfortable areas to lie down and rest.

Curtis says from time-to-time MPI will also have a helicopter in the air so that they can pinpoint potential winter grazing problem areas. He points out that earlier this year MPI successfully prosecuted a Southland livestock grazing company for allowing hundreds of cattle to graze in mud. "We visited numerous properties throughout Southland during the winter of 2024 and found most farmers were on top of their winter grazing requirements with good plans in place," he says.

Curtis says sector groups have useful resources and information on their websites to help minimise the amount of mud created during winter grazing, such as back fencing and using portable water troughs to reduce walking distances for livestock.

He adds that animal welfare is everyone's responsibility and MPI strongly encourages any member of the public who is aware of animal ill-treatment or cruelty to report it to the MPI animal welfare complaints freephone 0800 008 333.

Southland Federated Farmers president Jason Herrick earlier told Dairy News that farmers are prepared for winter grazing every year.

However, he says they don't always have the benefit of hindsight and can't predict what weather will show up when. "It's all about controlling the controllables and having Plans B right through to Z to deal with what the weather gods throw at us," Herrick says.

He says that the winter grazing regulations introduced by the previous government were "completely unnecessary" because most farmers were already following good practice.

"There were a lot of costly, unworkable rules put in there as well which, in turn, had farmers thinking of ways to get around them because of the cost and ultimately led to some worse situations," he says.