Intensive Winter Grazing

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Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) relates to the grazing of an annual forage crop during the winter months of 1 May – 30 September each year.

The IWG regulations come into effect on 1 November 2022. IWG can continue without a resource consent if the following conditions can be complied with:

Land area

Land area used for IWG must not exceed 50ha or 10% of the farm, whichever is greater.
The total area used for IWG must be no greater than the maximum area used for IWG in any season between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2019.
If you can’t meet either of these requirements, you will require resource consent.

Slope

Land with a maximum slope of 10 degrees or less may be used for IWG
Slope to be measured across any 20m distance
The slope threshold only applies to the area of land under annual forage crop and used for IWG.
IWG on land with a slope of more than 10 degrees will require resource consent or a certified freshwater farm plan (FFP)

Pugging

You are required to take all reasonably practicable steps to minimise the effects of pugging on freshwater.

Distance from waterways

Livestock must be kept at least 5m from the bed of any river, lake, wetland, or drain regardless of whether there is any water in at the time.
This does not apply to subsurface drains.

Resowing

You are required to establish vegetation as ground cover as soon as practicable after grazing.

Critical Source Areas (CSA)

Critical source areas must be protected.
All critical source areas must be left ungrazed, must have vegetation maintained as ground cover and must not be used to grow forage crops.

IWG which does not meet the permitted-activity conditions above can temporarily continue without a resource consent from 1 November 2022 to 1 May 2023, if all the conditions in section 20A(2) of the RMA apply, including applying for a resource consent before 1 May 2023. Resource consent will be required after 1 May 2023 if the above conditions cannot be met.

The MfE factsheet can be found here:

Mfe IWG Factsheet(external link)

New definitions for ‘intensive winter grazing’ and ‘annual forage crop’ effectively mean intensive winter grazing is any grazing of a crop in the place where it is grown (other than pasture) between 1 May and 30 September in the same year. The NES-FW applies to properties comprising five hectares or more of horticulture, 20 hectares or more of pasture or arable crops, or 20 hectares or more of a combination of any of these.

What is pugging? Pugging is defined in the NES-FW as the penetration of soil to a depth of 5cm or more by the hooves of grazing livestock.

What is an annual forage crop? Annual forage crop, as defined in the NES-FW, means a crop, other than pasture, which is grazed by livestock in winter in the place it is grown and is re-sown annually. Examples of annual forage crops include fodder beet, brassicas and oats.

How do I measure the mean slope of a paddock? There are many methods you can use to calculate the mean slope of a paddock and further guidance will be provided on this shortly. Note: The Low Slope Land Viewer RM (Stock Exclusion) Regulations 2020 map was produced specifically for the stock exclusion regulations (and uses the LINZ Primary Parcel Area). It is not suitable for determining the slope of a paddock for intensive winter grazing regulations.

What is the definition of a creek/stream/river? For winter grazing purposes, it is a water body which is continually or intermittently flowing - including drains (regardless of whether there is any water in it at the time).

For stock exclusion purposes, it is a water body which is continually or intermittently flowing and at least 1 metre wide as measured as the bed width bank-to-bank. It does not include artificial watercourses such as irrigation canals, water supply races, electricity generation canals or farm drains.

Last modified: 17 Oct 2025, 09:49

Intensive Winter Grazing