Bale grazing: A pasture & hay wintering system showing promising results for farmers and communities

Wintering livestock is a challenging time for farmers. Bale grazing, a heritage technique from the coldest and most frozen climes of North America has been incorporated in the New Zealand agricultural landscape progressively in the last decade. With a three year trial completed in Southland by AgResearch and the Quorum Sense wintering grazing innovations case study the practice is gaining favour with a handful of mostly dairy farmers but also grazers of many livestock classes up and down the country.

This booklet provides information about the practice, a guide to setting up a small on-farm trial and some of the results from AgResearch trial. It also includes information from two properties where bale grazing is being practiced: Dylan and Sheree Ditchfield’s Freedom Acres in Southland (the site of the AgResearch project) and Scarlett Farm in Canterbury.

Includes the report, Preserving Soil Armour During Winter: measurements at Freedom Acres by Ross Monaghan & Karin Schütz