Winter grazing alternative shakes up dairy farm
A Mount Hutt dairy farm has adopted a hybrid bale grazing system to protect their soil against adverse wet weather and better their overall environment.
In the foothills of Mid Canterbury, with a postcard view of Mount Hutt, a fourth-generation farmer and a former butcher are challenging traditional winter grazing practices.
After consecutive wet winters, farm owner Andrew Barlass and sharemilker Alby Harkness needed a solution to protect their greatest asset — soil.
Together, they explored hay bale grazing and adapted the method to cater to their unpredictable wet weather climate.
Hay bale grazing vs hybrid bale grazing
Hay bale grazing
Hay bale grazing is a regenerative agriculture practice coined from the coldest climates in North America. Where practical, the method offers an alternative to traditional winter grazing in New Zealand. Bales are spread across the paddock in a checkerboard formation and the cows feed on hay and pasture.
The system works best with more land area per cow to help reduce pugging and requires well-drained soils. Ultimately, this process improves soil health, water infiltration, and pasture growth.
Advantages:
- runoff (sediment, nutrients and contaminants) is reduced
- hay insulates the soil and cows tend to lie on litter
- warmer cows mean less feed is required to maintain condition
- litter, dung and urine are incorporated as organic matter, improving soil health and structure
- hay litter provides a seed source for pasture regeneration.
Drawbacks:
- requires more land than traditional winter grazing
- potential for feed wastage if not managed properly
- if not managed well, it can lead to muddy conditions where bales are placed.
Farm owner Andrew Barlass (right) and sharemilker Alby Harkness (left) are operating an 800-hectare dairy farm in the Mount Hutt foothills
Hybrid bale grazing
To increase the metabolisable energy of feed, some Canterbury farmers have started to adopt hybrid bale grazing. For example, Andrew’s farm uses a combination of ryegrass and silage. Hybrid bale grazing offers a flexible solution for farms in wet climates, like the Mount Hutt foothills, where making high volumes of hay can be challenging. The cows start on crop paddocks early in winter and then move to hybrid bale grazing paddocks later in the season.
Benefits of Andrew’s hybrid bale grazing include:
- provides higher-energy feed through a combination of ryegrass and silage
- supports cow health and productivity during wet winters
- adds flexibility and diversification to the wintering system.
Cows feeding on silage and ryegrass straw through a hybrid bale grazing system
Why the change?
In May 2021, the 800-hectare farm sitting on the foothills above the Rakaia River received more than 300mm of rain in three days.
The following winter, they were again hit with heavy rainfall across the season.
“We had these northerly storms that came down and wrapped around us. We seemed to get 50 to 80mm of rain every Tuesday,” Andrew said.
Their 1400 cows, across two properties — Dalkeith and Kōwhai — were standing in mud and their soil was being damaged.
Experimenting with hay bale grazing
So, they started experimenting with hay bale grazing. At that time, the North American method was starting to be picked up by Southland farmers for its environmental benefits.
The challenge Andrew found was making hay in the foothills was unreliable as they experienced unpredictable weather.
“Some years you’d be fine, others it’s impossible and we’re seeing increasingly more wet weather and a warmer climate,” he said.
Instead, they’ve combined silage with ryegrass straw to ensure the cows get the best nutrients and energy levels to optimise their health. The metabolisable energy content is higher in silage compared to hay and straw.
Building flexibility into the system
To give flexibility to their system, cows start in paddocks grazing on kale during June and July before they are moved to bale feed pastures in August for the remaining winter.
Next year, Andrew hoped they could move cows to bale feed pastures in July.
Moving away from fodder beet
Previously, his cows grazed fodder beet as it was cheaper to grow on a cent per kilogram of dry matter and the higher yield meant they could use a smaller area.
However, it didn’t give them the flexibility that their new system does and was materially worse for soil as cows grazed such small areas each day.
“Because fodder beet is high in sugar, you need to ease stock into it and off it. Whereas, with kale we have more flexibility to move them to our hybrid bale-grazing pastures in wet weather events and back onto kale after the weather has passed,” he said.
While they acknowledge the new system is a work in progress, Andrew said they’re trying to innovate to provide a better environment for the cows and improve soil health.
“The health and quality of the soil fundamentally underpins our business. We don’t want to see our soil being washed away in wet weather,” Andrew said.
System shake-up paying off
Two years in — and already they are seeing improvements in the cows, the quality of the soil and their overall business.
Andrew said that since introducing the hybrid bale grazing system last year:
- empty rates had dropped from 14 per cent to 9 per cent
- cows weren’t standing in mud during wet weather
- the soil structure had improved.
Alby said he’s noticed a real difference in the cows’ behaviour since they switched to hybrid bale-grazing due to the ad-lib feeding through ring-feeders, which also meant bales weren’t being wasted.
“When I go out to check on them, they’re content. They don’t come up to me asking for more food. On the old system (winter crop only), they would always be coming up wanting more feed,” Alby said.
The other benefit of the hybrid bale grazing system was time.
Alby said with winter crop feeding, he would cut the kale, break and shift the cows each morning, then he would load the silage wagon and drive the tractor onto the paddock for the stock to feed on.
With hybrid bale grazing, he cuts the bale plastic off, shifts the ring feeder and then goes back to pick up the plastic, under the bale, in the afternoon.
“We worked out that we save 200 tractor hours a year, which means we have a lot more time for other jobs,” Alby said.
More improvements to come
Andrew said there was still room for improvement and this season, they had continued to tweak the system to make it better.
“We’ve identified that to reduce pasture damage and to maximise productivity, we can halve the number of bales and scatter across 60 hectares, rather than 40,” he said.
On the second property, the softer ground is more susceptible to pugging, so Andrew said he was considering having a paddock with only straw, following the Southland bale grazing model.
“I’d do that to have options in my back pocket solely for responding to adverse weather events,” he said.
Ultimately, he wanted to avoid damaging the soil structure and compaction that winter crop could bring.
“Winter crop has a place — don’t get me wrong — but I think used in combination with this, we now have resilience and flexibility in our system.”
Exploration of alternatives encouraged
Our water and land principal implementation advisor, Shane Gilmer, said farmers exploring alternative wintering options were helping to improve all facets of farm management.
“It’s encouraging to see a system that reduces nutrient loss to water by improving soil health and animal welfare,” Shane said.
Find out more about good winter grazing practice
- Winter grazing - Plan for effective winter grazing crucial to cut runoff, boost soil health, and minimise nutrient loss.
- Quorum Sense provides a best practice guide as well as cost comparisons for Hay Bale Grazing
- Agresearch Soil Armour project - Soil Armour tools to help provide winter grazing options