DairyNZ: Farmers need to be prepared for winter

Photo / File

Content brought to you by DairyNZ.

Winter is on its way so it's a busy time for dairy farmers around New Zealand, DairyNZ Farm Performance Head of South Island Tony Finch says.

"We're all getting ready for what lies ahead with winter, as we saw in Southland just yesterday - it's close - if not here, so we need to be ready," he told The Country Sport Breakfast's Mark Kelly.

Wintering cows was important in some parts of the country, such as Southland, where grass growth was limited over the colder months, Finch said.

"You need certain crops to get you through winter. To make sure the cows are well fed, continue to put condition on, and get through the other side of winter in good nick and ready for calving."

Even though conditions were still favourable in some parts of New Zealand, it was important to have a plan in place for winter grazing, Finch said.

"People are still milking and it's a great pay price at the present point, so people are quite tempted to push in and get as much money out of the grass they've grown before the end of the season. They've got to start thinking about next spring pretty quickly."

Once a plan was sorted, it needed to be written down and everyone on-farm should be made aware of it and understand it, Finch said.

For those who needed assistance, a new wintering checklist and winter grazing plans were now available from DairyNZ, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and Federated Farmers.

A comprehensive winter grazing plan was also available through Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).

The new checklist helped farmers assess whether they were prepared for winter and highlighted any potential gaps.

Finch shared some of his own tips as well.

"Make sure you've got your portable troughs and your bales placed, make sure your paddocks are correctly selected and your grazing direction is known and planned and your staff know that."

It was also important to look out for critical source areas, Finch said.

"That's where water will potentially fall into a either waterway, or it sits, we need to make sure they're either fenced or [there's] a good buffer in place to capture any sediment."

Listen below:

A major part of preparing for winter was having a plan B, something Finch was well aware of after his Southland visit.

"As yesterday highlighted, we know more bad weather will come, we've got to be prepared for it. What's our plan B in case that does happen?"

Mob sizes in each break also needed to be considered, Finch said.

The recommended level was 100 to 120 animals, based on body condition scores and calving dates, Finch said.

"There's a lot there, but if we plan and we prepare and we know all this stuff, it makes everything just work."

"Let's make a difference this winter."

Wintering hotline

The sector also recently launched a wintering hotline for any concerns or complaints.

If anyone saw something that didn't look right, they could call the wintering hotline on 0800 FARMING.

The hotline was supported by Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb New Zealand and DairyNZ and calls were confidential.