Influences affecting adoption of management to mitigate impacts of intensive winter grazing of forage crops

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intensive winter grazing on forage crops helps overcome winter feed shortages but is associated with soil pugging and high rates of sediment and nutrient losses. A recently recommended approach to intensive winter grazing management–grazing from the top of the slope downwards (‘top-down’)–can substantially reduce sediment and nutrient losses as part of a suite of practices called ‘strategic grazing’. We hypothesised that this new management has had significant uptake and that a farmer’s risk preferences, values, and demographics influence adoption of these practices. Using a national-scale survey of farmers from 2023, we found that 52.5% of respondents who grazed winter forage crops on slopes, grazed top-down. Location had a modest impact on this decision, with Otago respondents being 17–24% more likely to graze top-down than those from other regions. Māori farmers were 30% more likely to graze top-down than non-Māori farmers. Profitability was positively correlated with this decision. We conclude that the adoption of top-down grazing practices on slopes for winter forage crops is widespread, with just over half of the farmers surveyed grazing winter forage crops top-down.