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.
All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.
Claims that some Southland farmers were invoiced up to $4000 for winter grazing compliance checks despite not breaching rules are being rejected by Environment Southland.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
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