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John Darroch, from Farmwatch, told Dairy News that pictures of the calves in crates was taken last season and the other footage this season.
One of the people who shot the footage shown on television says they didn't hand over the first lot of video made last year because they wanted to get greater proof of the widespread abuse of bobby calves.
John Darroch, from Farmwatch, told Dairy News that pictures of the calves in crates was taken last season and the other footage this season. They had difficulty filming some of the calves being thrown onto trucks and he personally saw at least eight instances of this happening but they were impossible to film.
"I can now confidently say that the rough handling of bobby calves onto trucks is widespread," he says.
Darroch says they took their footage from the side of the road and at times feared for their own safety had farmers caught them doing this. A couple of times farmers challenged what they were doing but didn't realise they were animal rights people.
Darroch says he's worked on a dairy farm and he has met other farmers keen to show him how well they look after their animals.
"We're not out there to demonise farmers and the dairy industry. I think there are some widespread issues that need to be tackled but certainly I haven't got anything against farmers as whole. In fact I have massive sympathy for them for what they are going through with low milk prices and the stress this involves," he says.
Darroch says he wants to scotch one suggestion that farmers didn't know about the ways the calves were being thrown onto trucks. He says most of the crates the bobby calves were held in were clearly visible from the farmhouse.
A Māori-owned agribusiness helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sectors wants more industry support.
Massey University has begun trialling the use of superior beef genetics in its two dairy farms as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand's dairy beef progeny test.
Animal rights organization, SAFE says the government needs to maintain the ban on live exports.
Rather than banning live animal exports, New Zealand should raise the standards required of the industry.
Animal rights group SAFE has launched a nationwide campaign designed to issue a call to the new government, asking them to preserve the ban on live animal export.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says the 2025 Fieldays has been one of more positive he has attended.
A fundraiser dinner held in conjunction with Fieldays raised over $300,000 for the Rural Support Trust.
Recent results from its 2024 financial year has seen global farm machinery player John Deere record a significant slump in the profits of its agricultural division over the last year, with a 64% drop in the last quarter of the year, compared to that of 2023.
An agribusiness, helping to turn a long-standing animal welfare and waste issue into a high-value protein stream for the dairy and red meat sector, has picked up a top innovation award at Fieldays.
The Fieldays Innovation Award winners have been announced with Auckland’s Ruminant Biotech taking out the Prototype Award.
Following twelve years of litigation, a conclusion could be in sight of Waikato’s controversial Plan Change 1 (PC1).
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