Make vets part of your management team
Farmers are being urged to make their veterinarians an integral part of their farm management team.
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.
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.