North Otago farmers who still have questions about their Intensive Winter Grazing consents, can get them answered at a workshop in Ōamaru this Thursday (May 25).

The workshop is the last of three one-on-one Intensive Winter Grazing (IWG) workshops run by the Otago Regional Council over the past two weeks, despite the deadline for applications closing on May 1. The others were held in Dunedin and Balclutha.

The workshop provides a chance for planners to walk farmers through their applications to completion.

More than 200 consents have been issued by the council to farmers in recent months for winter 2023, and beyond.

Council consents acting manager Alexandra King said the focus in recent months has been on education around how farmers can either meet the permitted activity rules, or how to apply for IWG consents - which can cover a three to five-year period.

To date 234 consents had so far been issued, with 69 in North Otago.

“We’re hoping to see a high level of good practice this winter, building on the work from previous years.” 

The Ōamaru workshop will be held at the Kakanui Room of the ORC Office on 32 Ribble Street from 9am-5pm.

There has been “great engagement” from the rural community and stakeholders, with people thinking about their activity and how they reduce any risks, and all those farmers now with consents also have grazing management plans in place for winter 2023, Alexandra said.

“People have been thinking about how they will manage their winter grazing and reduce any on-farm risks.” 

Recent flyovers focus on education

Meanwhile, ORC principal compliance specialist Mike Cummings said the first round of flyovers, pre-May, were over areas historically used for IWG practices and looking at slope, rather than where there was an absence of consents.

They had a focus on education, and the data was still being processed, he said.

Planning is now underway for the next round of flyovers, which will shift to aiding compliance with the regulations and consents, including through further flyovers planned this winter. 

“It’s great that people have applied for consents or adapted their practices to meet the permitted activity, but the focus now is on how people manage their activity over winter to continue to meet the permitted activity requirements and the conditions of their consents,” Mike said.

The flyover follow up has a focus on education, and the data is still being processed. Planning is now underway for the next round of flyovers. 

The focus will shift to ensuring farmers are meeting the regulations or consent conditions, he said.

They will be looking at any in-stream disturbances, forestry and IWG areas with a goal to provide targeted information about rules and timeframes and to link farmers with further support around this farming practice.