The Otago Regional Council’s annual series of farmer workshops for intensive winter grazing (IWG) to promote good management practices gets underway from March, with seven workshops scheduled across seven locations over six weeks.

The previous three years of workshops proved successful and were well attended across the region and proved very successful, says ORC’s Environmental Implementation Manager Libby Caldwell

“We thank farmers for their efforts and management of this activity,” Ms Caldwell says.

The ORC’s workshops will visit Owaka, Balclutha, Tapanui, Weston, Outram, Ranfurly and Cromwell (details below), she says.

ORC’s Intensive Winter Grazing Workshops for 2025

To register for your preferred workshop, go to: www.orc.govt.nz/iwgworkshops

Update on changes to IWG regulations

Changes have been made to the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-F) by the Government which cover winter 2025.

For this winter Farmers will need to meet the new regulations around:

• Minimum setbacks of 5 metres from the bed of any river, lake, wetland or drain (regardless of whether there is any water in it at the time).
• No grazing within critical source areas, maintaining ground cover over the critical source area, and no cultivation, or harvesting of annual forage crops in critical source areas.

The Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024 made changes to IWG rules. Previously, IWG was allowed without needing a resource consent as long as certain conditions were met. If those conditions were not met, people needed to apply for consent. With the recent changes, the criteria and rules which applied in previous seasons will no longer apply for this winter and applying for a new resource consent is not an option.

“The focus of the workshops is on helping people to prepare grazing management plans and to implement good management practices, but the team will also be there to help with any questions about the changes to the regulations and how they apply to their farm. We are happy to be able to provide this support again for winter 2025.” Ms Caldwell says.

What do I do if I already have a Resource Consent for IWG?

If farmers already have a resource consent for IWG, they don’t need to follow the new regulations about not grazing in Critical Source Areas and distances from waterways, if their consent specifically allows them to graze in a CSA or within the 5m distance. This applies if:

1. The land use consent and discharge permit were in place before 25 October 2024 (the date the new rules took effect); or
2. If your land use consent was granted under the Regional Plan before 25 October 2024.

The Key Points for Farmers

• Follow Good Management Practices: continue to follow good management practices, including having a grazing management plan in place.
• If You Don’t Have a Consent: Meet the standards as outlined in the new regulations.
• If You Have a Consent: Check it allows you to graze within CSAs, or the 5m distance andkeep following the conditions of your existing consent.
• Grazing Management Plan If you are using your consent for this winter, you will need to prepare and send in your grazing management plan. If you are not using your consent, you are still encouraged to do a management plan.

Farmers must register to attend any of the workshops, so the event can be staffed accordingly, with up to 20 spots available at each event.

“While the target audience to attend is primarily farmers, rural professionals and consultants may also see value in attending these workshops,” Ms Caldwell says.

During the winter of 2025, ORC will continue to monitor IWG activities, as part of the annual flyovers that monitor land disturbance activities such as IWG and forestry.

We recommend you bring the following to an IWG workshop:

1. Your existing IWG management plan.
2. Whole farm map(s).
3. Aerial imagery of your IWG paddocks for winter 2025.
4. Existing IWG consents (if you have one).

Other resources

• Intensive Winter Grazing Management plan (Word format)
  Intensive Winter Grazing Management plan (PDF format)
• Dairy NZ Winter Grazing Planning
• Deer NZ Wintering feed systems
• Beef + Lamb Winter Grazing Knowledge Hub
• MPI Intensive winter grazing

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