The husband and son of National MP Barbara Kuriger​, along with a company she has shares in, have been charged with multiple animal cruelty offences.

Louis Stephen Kuriger​, Tony Michael Kuriger​ and Lloyd Timothy Harris entered no pleas at their first appearance in the Palmerston North District Court on Thursday to the 11 charges they each face.

The charges are failing to protect animals, failing to prevent suffering and ill-treatment of animals.

KEVIN STENT/STUFF National MP Barbara Kuriger in Parliament.

A company the trio directs, Oxbow Dairies Ltd, faces the same charges.

Louis Kuriger is the husband of Taranaki-King Country MP and the National Party's rural communities spokeswoman Barbara Kuriger.

Barbara Kuriger also holds shares in Oxbow Dairies, most of them jointly owned with her husband.

The MP does not face any charges.

She told Stuff she found out about the prosecution "only very recently".

Her involvement in Oxbow Dairies did not extend past her shareholding.

When questioned at Parliament later in the day, she said: "Given the matter is before the courts, there is very little I can say, but I can confirm that they will be defending the charges, and like any New Zealander, they deserve right to a fair trial.

"I can confirm that I kept National Party leadership fully informed throughout the investigation and I'll make further comment once the matter has been dealt to."

When asked if she had noticed any abuse on the farm, she said "no".

The Kurigers are award-winning farmers. Tony Kuriger was crowned the sharemilker/equity farmer of the year at the 2014 Hawke's Bay/Wairarapa Dairy Industry Awards.

At the time of the award, Tony Kuriger, then 27, was equity sharemilking a 740-cow herd in Woodville as a partnership with his father Louis Kuriger and Harris.

Louis and Barbara Kuriger won the same prize at the 1987 Taranaki awards

Tony Kuriger also ran, unsuccessfully, for Tararua District Council during a by-election in 2017.

A summary of facts or specific details about the charges were not available to the press, but Judge Jim Large said the alleged offences happened in 2016 and 2017.

Prosecutor Karl van der Plas​ said multiple investigation techniques were used before the charges were laid, hence the delay in them getting to court.

Defence lawyer Phillip Drummond said there was an extensive amount of information on the prosecution file, which he was yet to see, so the defendants needed more time before entering pleas.

The judge put the case off until April, with pleas having to be entered then.

He also ordered the prosecution to give Drummond all relevant documents by the end of March.