The final product Two Thumbs Brewery

Think about a catch crop for next year

Research into catch crops has shown them to be effective in reducing nutrient losses from winter feed crops and to also have a net financial benefit.

The job of a catch crop is to grow when soil conditions are too cool for many pasture and crop seeds and to absorb nutrients from the soil and reduce leaching losses below the root zone. These nutrients accumulate in the soil during winter crop grazing, from dung and urine and mineralisation of soil organic matters, such as crop residues. Post-winter is one of the riskiest times of the year for nutrient leaching losses. Crops that are more likely to be successful include short rotation ryegrasses, oats, barley and wheat – plants which have larger seeds. They may take a while to germinate, but once they do, they begin taking up those excess nutrients. We hear concern about how catch crops may disrupt the conventional rotations, but they also provide options for farmers. These include having high-quality leafy forage earlier in the spring, more forage for baleage, or even the option for whole-crop silage or grain. If you need some extra guidance and information on winter grazing, you are welcome to get in touch with a land management advisor on 0800 324 636 or visit our Farmers’ hub at www.ecan.govt.nz/farmers-hub

Ben Johnson talks to fellow farmers during a winter grazing workshop held at his Timaru property.

New winter grazing guidelines supporting best practice

Environment Canterbury’s new guidelines for Farm Environment Plan auditors will give greater consistency and robustness when auditing winter grazing with sheep, cattle or deer on forage crops. The guide, which is available on our website, aims to give FEP auditors the necessary guidance to assess their level of confidence that farmers are meeting environmental targets for winter grazing. These targets include evidence of planning and mitigations to reduce potential nutrient and sediment run-off from paddocks into waterways. They are an important step towards better managing the impact of winter grazing on water quality, soil health and mahinga kai values. “We know that winter is a demanding time for farmers but that is why having a plan for grazing in bad weather is even more important,” says Senior Service Manager Nick Daniels.

“The new guidelines, which have been put together in conjunction with industry, including DairyNZ, Beef+Lamb NZ, Deer NZ and Foundation for Arable Research, lay out our expectations for farmers to understand the risks and make plans to mitigate them.” Key sections in the guidelines include expectations on planning throughout the farming calendar year for: • paddock selection (winter/early spring) • block set-up (early summer/pre-grazing) • crop grazing (April to August) • post-grazing management (August to October and beyond). Workshops with farm auditors have been held. We encourage auditors or farmers to get in touch with us if you are interested in learning more about auditing for winter grazing.

The Government’s freshwater policy changes How will they affect you?

The Government’s new Action for Healthy Waterways freshwater rules are now in place and Environment Canterbury is working to understand what this means for Canterbury farmers.

In the meantime, there is plenty of information available for farmers and irrigators from industry groups, or you can get in touch with Environment Canterbury for advice.

What is Action for Healthy Waterways?

The Action for Healthy Waterways policy package involves changes to four key policy documents that have been made following community consultation in September 2019. These documents are:

• National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management 2020 • National Environmental Standard for Freshwater 2020 • Stock Exclusion s360 Regulations • Measurement and Reporting of Water Takes s360 Regulations. You can find these documents and further information at www.ecan.govt.nz.

What does this mean for Canterbury?

We believe that Canterbury is well-placed to adapt to the new requirements. The Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan and Plan Changes put in place over the last 10 years aim to ensure fresh water is managed as a shared resource. Our farmers and the wider Canterbury community are working hard to comply with these plans and taking measures to reduce nutrient output and improve the health of waterways. Measures indicated in Action for Healthy Waterways, such as the use of Farm Environment Plans and stock exclusion from waterways, are already well established in Canterbury. However, while our regional planning framework covers many of the same areas as the new requirements, changes will be required to existing plans to give effect to the new national direction.

Further analysis is needed before we can provide clarity on the extent of changes required. We will provide more information and advice on how these changes affect Canterbury farmers on our website as it becomes available.