It's the first day of winter but for sharemilkers it's traditionally known as 'Gypsy Day', when thousands of cattle across the country are moved to new pastures for winter grazing.
Despite concerns about the spread of Mycoplasma Bovis, the annual move went ahead on Friday.
Lindon Grant, who's been sharemilking in Canterbury for 8 years, is moving his herd of cattle 20 kilometres up the road for winter grazing.
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But with the spread of M. bovis, this year the move is different.
"This year it's a lot more stressful trying to work out we're fencing off paddocks along the way and other cows and you know we're fairly nervous really," he said.
Extra precautions are being taken, and every effort is being made to stop stock mixing with infected cattle.
Farmers are shifting smaller mobs at a time, talking to neighbours moving cows and putting up fences as they go.
"We're clear we think, but everyone thinks their clear so we're all trying to look after each other and look out for everyone's cows at the end of the day," Mr Grant said.
The annual moving day allows sharemilkers who own cows but not the land, to change farms to begin new contracts.
Federated Farmers says the move is essential for many who need to relocate to provide enough feed for their stock.
Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury dairy section chairman Chris Ford said: "There's no legislation of how farmers a supposed to move their cows or move their property from one farm to another, so there's a lot of trust that the farmers are doing it right."
For farms infected with Mycoplasma bovis, stock can't be moved without a permit from MPI.
"We're all farmers and we've all got to look out for each other, it's no one's fault that they've got it, so we can only be supportive of each other and as long as we're doing best practice we should be pretty safe," Mr Grant said.
Gypsy day isn't just confined to one day and stock will continued to be moved for weeks.
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