noun
summer mountain grazing, winter barn feeding
A traditional Japanese livestock management method where cattle graze on mountain pastures in summer and are kept in barns during winter. Often used in the phrase 夏山冬里方式.
See also: 夏山冬里方式
この地域では、昔から夏山冬里の方法で牛を育てている。
In this region, cattle have been raised using the summer-mountain winter-barn method since long ago.
夏山冬里方式は、日本の伝統的な畜産の知恵だ。
The summer-mountain winter-barn system is a piece of traditional Japanese livestock-raising wisdom.
The full phrase explicitly includes 方式 (method/system), while 夏山冬里 can be used as a shorter noun referring to the practice itself.
Compound of 夏 (summer), 山 (mountain), 冬 (winter), and 里 (village/home). The term literally describes the seasonal movement of livestock between mountain pastures and village barns.