Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
Former farm manager Michael James Whitelock was been jailed for 4 and a half years and disqualified from owning animals for 10 years after pleading guilty to animal cruelty.
Whitlock broke the tails of 200 animals on a Landcorp farm he was managing.
Ministry for Primary Industries animal welfare manager Peter Hyde describes the Westport farmer’s abuse of dairy cows as “horrific”.
Four and a half years imprisonment is believed to be the longest imprisonment sentence handed down for animal welfare offences involving farm animals.
The next largest sentence was 2 years and 1 month handed down to a Waikato farmer in 2013.
Hyde says acts of deliberate cruelty involving farm animals are very rare.
"Deliberate cruelty is unacceptable to all right minded people. This was one of the worst cases of cruelty MPI has dealt with. We take this sort of offending very seriously and the sentence indicates that the court clearly does too." he says.
Three other offenders have previously been sentenced to significant periods of community detention and community work and disqualification in relation to this case.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.
A day after the ouster of PGG Wrightson’s chair and his deputy, the listed rural trader’s board has appointed John Nichol as the new independent chair.
Tributes are pouring in from across the political divide for former Prime Minister Jim Bolger who passed away, aged 90.
The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.
Agri advisor Perrin Ag says its graduate recruitment programme continues to bring new talent into the agricultural sector.
Entries are open for the 2026 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).
OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
OPINION: Politicians and Wellington bureaucrats should take a leaf out of the book of Canterbury District Police Commander Superintendent Tony Hill.