A Stratford farmer has been fined after pleading guilty to breaking the tails of 157 cows in his dairy herd.

A top Taranaki farmer has been fined $20,000 for breaking the tails on more than half the cows in his dairy herd.

Rodney Spence Wilson pleaded guilty to two charges under the Animal Welfare Act and was sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.

The lead charge, wilful ill-treatment of 157 cows, carried a maximum penalty of five years jail or a $100,000 fine. He was also charged with using vice grips on the animals.

Judge Chris Sygrove said at the beginning of the 2014 dairy season, Wilson employed two farm assistants to help him with milking, calf-rearing and general duties around his Salisbury Rd property in Stratford.

READ MORE

*Waikato dairy farmers disgusted at abusive behaviour

*Tail-breaking farmer sentenced

*'Abhorrent': Man charged with breaking cows' tails

He said the workers raised concerns about the defendant's behaviour towards the cows in his care. One of the allegations made was that Wilson had placed vice grips onto the cow's tails. According to the summary of facts, this is not considered to be normal practice in the dairy industry and can cause cows acute pain.

Sygrove said on November 10, 2014, a complaint was lodged with the Taranaki SPCA about the abuse, which was forwarded onto the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to investigate.

The judge said a MPI animal welfare inspector visited the defendant at his farm on December 11, 2014 and an assessment of the herd by a veterinarian was completed the same day.

Sygrove said of the cows checked 157, about 60 per cent, had at least one break. Of those cows, more than half had multiple breaks in their tails. The judge said 14 cows showed signs of suffering a recent break. Sygrove said most of the affected herd were left with grossly deformed and stiff tails.

The judge said Wilson gave two reasons to the veterinarian for breaks in the cows' tails.

"One was the need to push cows onto the platform the previous season after automatic cup removers had been installed and the second reason was extricating cows that had gone down on the platform," he said.

However, this was not accepted by the vet, who said "considerable" force was required to break a cow's tail.

David Fordyce, on behalf of MPI, sought a fine of about $33,000 for the offending but did not seek a disqualification which would bar Wilson from owning animals. He asked Sygrove to take into account the level of cruelty the animals suffered and Wilson's position of trust at the time of the offending.

Defence lawyer Ian Matheson said his client's "exemplary reputation" needed to be taken into account and since the MPI investigation was completed, Wilson's farm operation had been checked again and no other problems were identified.

He said Wilson had accepted responsibility for what had happened and should have done more to prevent the situation from occurring in the first place. Matheson said the past year had been "stressful" for his client and he had lost enthusiasm for farming as a result.

Matheson said Wilson had recently sold his farm which would effectively bring his 40 year farming career to a premature end.

"There is an element of self-imposed punishment. It's not something that has come easily for him," Matheson said.

The 62-year-old was a director of Kiwi Dairies, one of the companies which founded Fonterra, and sat on the board of directors of the Taranaki Veterinary Centre until July this year. He did not seek re-election this year to the Fonterra's directors' remuneration committee, of which he is a former chairman.

Sygrove said he took in account Wilson's previous good character, lack of any previous convictions and his standing in the Taranaki farming community.

He fined Wilson $5,000 for using vice grips and $15,000 for the wilful ill-treatment of 157 cows. Wilson was also ordered to pay $1569.75 in vet costs, along with court costs.

Wilson was approached for comment through his lawyer, but this was declined.