Just two potential sites of interest have been identified following Environment Southland's (ES) first aerial compliance inspection of the winter grazing season.

The first flight took place on 4th July and focused on western and central Southland.

ES compliance manager Donna Ferguson said the sites identified for follow up were in relation to crop being grazed on what appeared to be a critical source area, and a paddock with no buffering from a waterway.

Follow up would be carried out by ES staff, with an assessment on the ground and any further action depending on the level of environmental impact.

However Ferguson said the flight team had been impressed with the buffers in place and the critical source areas left uncultivated and ungrazed.

“These were two areas we were specifically checking compliance with as they’re key criteria in the rules and can have a big impact on water quality if not managed well.”

She also noted there was a lot of pasture-based grazing happening, where bales of hay or baleage are placed evenly across grass paddocks and stock are break fed from these.

“Remember that good management practices need to be applied to stock grazing on crop as well as on pasture with baleage,” she said.

The flights were an opportunity to see if the good preparation observed earlier in the year was being followed up by good practice and compliance with the rules.

“While we observed many good examples of winter grazing practice, there are always improvements that can be made. In particular, we’ll continue to encourage the use of portable troughs and back-fencing, as well as grazing towards waterways.”

The sites identified for follow up were in relation to crop being grazed on what appeared to be a critical source area, and a paddock with no buffering from a waterway, Donna Ferguson said.

Flights are planned for the start of each winter month and follow paths guided by known areas of concern and incidents reported.

“We will be undertaking further aerial monitoring flights and responding to complaints through the winter grazing period.”

Anyone with environmental concerns should contact Environment Southland directly.

Animal welfare concerns should be reported to The Ministry of Primary Industries by phoning 0800 00 83 33 or emailing [email protected].

Farmers who are unsure about the rules and what they need to do to comply should visit the Environment Southland website or contact the consents team directly for specific advice.