Ross Monaghan, Soil Scientist at AgResearch, joined us to talk about taking care of stock, soils and water in winter.
Winter grazing of forage crops is an important issue for farmers. It can be a good source of income through setting finishing animals up for high margins or through taking on grazers. It can also come at a cost from pugging, through loss of nutrients and topsoil and by pollution of water. In addition to all that, lots of animals on wet soils in winter can be a concern for the community. Recent research from the collaborative P21 programme has come up with some answers to improve animal performance while at the same time avoiding, remedying or mitigating the negative impacts.