The case to end mud farming.
This advocacy article was prepared by Safe Animals from Exploitation NZ Inc and is being published by the New Zealand Herald as advertorial.
Every winter, across New Zealand’s rural landscape, cows and sheep are forced to endure months of suffering in desolate, waterlogged paddocks. Stripped of shelter and dry ground to rest on, these animals are condemned to grueling living conditions – where hypothermia, distress, and disease are the norm. This practice, known as mud farming or intensive winter grazing, is not an unfortunate consequence of extreme weather. It is a deliberate farming system that inflicts severe harm on both animals and our environment.
A system designed to fail
Mud farming confines animals to small, intensively grazed paddocks from May to September while surrounding fields regenerate for spring. Touted as a sustainable land management tool, the reality is anything but green. These paddocks are planted with forage crops like kale, swedes, and fodder beet to provide food over winter, but the high density of animals combined with inclement weather quickly reduces the land to a quagmire of deep mud. With no adequate shelter from the harsh elements, animals are left exposed to freezing temperatures and relentless wet conditions.
New Zealand’s animal welfare laws state that all animals must have their physical, health, and behavioural needs met. Yet on mud farms, these basic requirements are routinely ignored. Prolonged exposure to mud puts animals at serious risk of foot rot, lameness, and skin infections. [1] In extreme conditions, they can struggle to access food and clean drinking water. For pregnant animals, the stakes are even higher – many are forced to give birth in mud, leaving newborns highly vulnerable to hypothermia and illness in their first critical days of life.
Despite overwhelming evidence of its cruelty, mud farming remains legal in Aotearoa. Enforcement bodies sometimes intervene when suffering reaches crisis levels – but by then, the damage is already done.
The environmental toll
Mud farming doesn’t just harm animals, it wreaks havoc on our environment too. When animals are confined to saturated paddocks, they intensively trample the wet soil, leading to a process known as pugging. This disrupts the soil’s ability to absorb rainwater, causing chemicals, sediment, and animal waste to flow into nearby rivers and streams. The result? Polluted waterways, declining freshwater species, and water that’s unsafe for drinking or recreation.[2]
New Zealand has built its reputation on the promise of clean, green, and ethical farming. But as long as mud farming continues, that image is little more than a myth.
A call to ban mud farming
Even the best-intentioned farmers cannot control the weather or prevent paddocks from turning to mud under such intensive conditions. We believe the only way to truly protect animals and preserve our natural resources is to end the practice altogether.
Sign SAFE’s petition to ban mud farming today – animal suffering should never be accepted as the cost of doing business.
safe.org.nz/take-action/end-mud-farming
[1] Source: Cortes, J. et al. (2021). Risk factors of digital dermatitis in feedlot cattle. Translation Animal Science, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txab075
[2] Ministry for the Environment. (2023). Papa Otaota, Groundcovers. New Zealand Government. https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Goundcovers-Guidance-for-intensive-winter-grazing.pdf