Bob Cathcart, the Council’s Land Operations Manager, says the amount of rain that has fallen recently has made land very wet underfoot and prone to pugging.
“This early onset of winter does not bode well given farmers are already juggling their stock management systems.”
Mr Cathcart says not only does pugging significantly reduce pasture production over the subsequent spring and summer; “there is clear evidence to show the effect can last for at least the next two or three seasons”.
“Soil structure is destroyed, more productive grasses and clovers are killed off and weed infestations increase to fill the gaps.”
Mr Cathcart says animal waste, nitrogen and other nutrients can run off heavily pugged land into drains and streams.
“All the good work put in by a group of neighbouring dairy farmers in managing their dairy shed effluent to improve water quality in our streams can be can be quickly undone by one sacrifice paddock within the same catchment.”
Mr Cathcart says most phosphate lost from Northland soils occurs as phosphate bound to sediment.
“Those autumn dressings of superphosphate can be very quickly wasted as muddy water flows off the land. Weed growth in drains and downstream rivers will be boosted, increasing the costs of stream maintenance and reducing water quality next summer.”
He says sediment and nutrient loss can be a “double whammy” for farmers, not only increasing fertiliser costs but also incurring the costs of treating shed and stock water.
“The Regional Council understands - and is sympathetic to - the plight of farmers having to cope with Northland’s heavy soils and prolonged periods of wet weather. But at the same time, it also expects farmers to implement suitable management strategies to reduce the adverse effects of livestock on their land and on water bodies.”
Mr Cathcart says there are now some very cost-effective off-paddock wintering systems available.
“These systems will pay for themselves in increased pasture production (as a consequence of not pugging soil) and in savings on supplementary feed.
Even standoff areas on races take the pressure off paddocks by getting the cattle off as soon as they have eaten their fill. Just remember that waste from these standoff areas needs to be managed in a similar way to dairy shed effluent.”
Mr Cathcart says the Regional Council prefers to protect rural water quality using education and advice in the first instance.
However, he says there is a bottom line and the Council has a range of enforcement measures available to it - from abatement notices and infringement notices (which attract a fine), through to prosecution of blatant cases.