In 10: How to plan for winter and stay on track when pressure hits

Winter will test your system, but a clear plan helps you stay in control. In this episode, DairyNZ Environment Manager Justin Kitto shares practical advice to help you set up a winter grazing plan that works when conditions turn. You’ll hear why putting a written plan in place matters, and how simple practices like back-fencing and smart water placement can protect your paddocks and improve cow comfort. 

Justin covers how to make your plan work by involving your team and keeping it visible, so everyone knows what to do and when to act. He explains what to watch in your cows and your soil, including early signs that conditions are slipping, and why acting early protects lying time and overall cow wellbeing. You’ll also learn how having a Plan B helps you stay ahead of wet weather and keeps your system on track. 

Get practical steps to manage winter grazing, protect cow condition and make decisions under pressure. When you’ve done the thinking upfront, you’re prepared to act quickly and confidently to deliver good outcomes for your cows, your people and your farm system.

Get information on wintering and animal care

Get the DairyNZ Winter Grazing Plan template

Get the poster - What to look out for in winter 

Have feedback or ideas for future episodes? Email us at talkingdairy@dairynz.co.nz

Connect with DairyNZ

Stay up to date with advice, latest research, tools and resources. Read, browse, scroll, listen, or be there in person. Visit dairynz.co.nz/get-connected 

Transcript

Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Kiora and welcome to Talking Dairy. I'm your host Jack McGowan from DairyNZ. It's great to have you with us. Think back to the last tough winter day on your farm. The ground's cutting up, the forecast isn't improving, and you're weighing up whether to stick with the plan or switch early to protect your cows. That moment is what today's episode is about. In this episode, we'll walk through what good winter planning involves, how to set your cows up well, how to make sure your team knows the plan, and how to spot the early triggers that tell you it's time to act. Joining me is Justin Kiddo, manager, environment specialist, and winter grazing guru. Justin has spent years working alongside farmers across different systems and regions, helping turn good winter intentions into practical, workable plans that protect cows, people, and the environment. Let's get into it. Well, welcome back to the podcast, Justin. You've been on in episode 107 about improving water quality through partnership. But for those that haven't heard that one, can you give us a quick intro to yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Yeah, I am the environment manager at DairyNZ, and I'm now heavily involved in projects that are focused on farmer change as it relates to the environment. So as you just mentioned, wintering, but also supporting catchment groups, jobs for nature, wetland restoration, riparian restoration, any sort of project that involves improving environmental outcomes on dairy farms.

Getting winter planning right early

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Great. Now, so for farmers looking ahead to winter right now, what are the big things worth sorting early to set the season up well?

SPEAKER_00 1:41

So I think the first thing that farmers are aware of, but just need to polish up on is the use of a winter grazing plan, a Rissin winter grazing plan. And we've got a copy up on our website and other entities have them as well. And the important thing about that is having a plan on what you're going to do, what practices are going to be implemented, and under what conditions, so that staff know what has to happen in certain conditions. Because often when things go wrong, it's because the farm decision maker hasn't been on farm when the conditions have changed. So that's the first thing to get right is that paddock plan. And then the second thing is getting those practices right. So having a portable water trough, ideally at the feed face, having a back fence up, and that prevents cows from walking to the back of the paddock to get a drink and making a mess of the paddock and just making it more susceptible to pugging and poor drainage and poor line conditions. And having a plan B for when the weather does turn on you and it does get muddy underfoot or wet underfoot. So what options do you have outside of the paddock or in the paddock to ensure that cows are getting the minimum of 10 to 12 hours of line time per day?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

And what kind of things do you see in the plan Bs?

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Plan B, so it really depends on what interests the farmer and how they like to farm and what infrastructure they have on farm. So if they have a standoff area or some hard surfaces, they'll put their cows there when the weather is turning to custard or when the soil conditions are a bit dodgy. Other farmers will run them off the crop paddock and put them onto a pasture paddock. Other farmers will have sort of an in-paddock system or in-paddock solution. So that could be laying out extra straw that they know is going to be trotted into the ground just to provide some bedding material. Or what we're seeing more of is a grass strip has been left within the crop paddock and protected so that when it does get wet underfoot, gets muddy, the cows just move a few metres onto that grass break to lie down and just minimise that paddock damage.

Do practices vary by region?

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Now you work across a lot of systems and regions. Are these fundamentals pretty universal or do they change depending on where and how you're wintering?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I think the risk factors and the problems are all universal, including the practices and the solutions. I think the only thing that does vary across the country is the total number of days that the severe risks are experienced. And that's more to do with the total amount of rainfall, soil conditions, and slope if you're farming on slope.

Making sure the plan is used

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Okay. And so once that plan's in place, the next challenge is making sure it's used. What's worked well when it comes to sharing the plan with staff?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, so I've seen quite a few examples over the years. So one, I think the key thing is that staff have a hand in developing it so that they feel like they own it and they may have experiences that the farm decision maker might not. So getting that feedback's always awesome. But other people, they've always got the farm plan in the tractor or uh near the feed source. I've seen farmers that have um laminated it and just put it on a clit and hung that to the paddock gate so that when you know farm staff go to shift the fences, they can check on that document actually in the paddock. So it's always their front of mind that they know what they're looking for. So I think the key thing there is as long as your staff are aware of it, know what to do, know where to find things and what the triggers are that they're looking for in terms of what the cows are doing or or what the ground conditions are like. I think if you know those things, you're setting yourself up for success.

Sending cows off-farm: what to check

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Okay, not every farmer winters their cows on farm. For those who are sending cows away to graze his overwinter, what are the key things to get right?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, I think because ultimately they're your cows and it's your in industry. So I think having an an agreement or relationship with that farmer is important and making sure that they're following good practice and they're going to be compliant with whatever rules are out there around, you know, critical source areas and back fencing and portable troughs, and they're looking after your cows the way that you would if you were actively making the decisions. And yeah, just having an agreement in place, I think is really important.

Monitoring cows during winter

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Justin, from a cow's perspective, what are the things farmers should be watching throughout winter?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

In terms of the lying time issue, I think the important things to be looking at are around content cows, observing cows towards the afternoon once they've had a good feed to make sure they're actually lying down and getting that lying time, looking for lying bowls and um just a content cow really. And also when you're walking through the paddock to move a break or whatever, just taking note of the soil conditions and what's happening with your gum boots. So if you can walk through the paddock cleanly and not leave your gum boot behind you stuck in the mud, the ideal conditions for the cows are happily lie in. But if you're losing your gum boot behind you or the paddock conditions are sloppy, more like liquid than soil, um, that's probably a sign that things are not going well and the cows are not wanting to lie down, and you need to do something differently as well.

Spotting triggers to act early

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Now you mentioned before the triggers for doing something differently and your staff knowing about those, and obviously you've just talked about lying bowls and you know, walking through the paddock. Do we have anything for farm teams that can sort of support them with understanding what they're looking for?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Online, and we'll put it in the show notes or description. There is a poster that we have online that's being developed for farm staff, and it's just got a whole bunch of things and indicators that you should be like looking at about cows and just to see how happy they are in the paddock, and that could be around the soil conditions and markings on their body and body position and things like that that are good for farm staff, particularly if they're new to farming, about what to look for and therefore report back to the decision maker that this is what they're seeing.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

There's obviously still public and regulatory interest in wintering. How does having a clear plan, like you've talked about, and good processes, help farmers stay confident and able to focus on the job at hand?

SPEAKER_00 8:12

What we do know from surveys that were done from farmers is when they have a written plan, they are implementing more good management practices than those that don't have a plan. So by having a written plan, you would have thought about it, and therefore you'll have actions and strategies in place when things deviate away from normal. And the other thing that we do know is that one of the first questions a compliance officer will ask if they ever have a reason to turn up on farm is where is your w written plan? And by having a written plan that shows intent, that you've tried to do the right thing, that you've thought about the risks, and you have mitigating factors in place. So by having that plan, you are foreseeing potential risks and you're having a strategy in place on what you do if those risks are realized.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Okay. Well, that's it for this episode of Talking Dairy. A big thank you to Justin Kiddo, who's been supporting farmers to achieve good wintering outcomes across a range of systems for many years. Through the combined efforts of farmers and industry, we've seen real improvements in wintering practices, particularly in Southland and Otago. But every winter is different. Staff change, systems evolve, and conditions can turn quickly. So, as Justin talked about, taking the time to review or write your winter grazing plan, making sure it's up to date, and walking it through with your team can go a long way to delivering good outcomes for cows, people, and the environment. Thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time. Matewa. If you'd like to get connected with DairyNZ's latest advice, research, tools, and resources, whether it's reading, scrolling, listening, or in person, you can visit dairynz.co.nz forward slash get-connected, and don't forget to hit follow to keep up to date with our latest episodes. As always, if you have any feedback on this podcast or have some ideas for future topics or guests, please email us at talkingdairy at dairynz.co.nz. Thanks for listening, and we'll catch you next time on Talking Dairy.