Spy cameras are found hidden in a Waikato dairy shed. Who put them there and why?

Dairy farmers are being warned to watch out for hidden cameras in their dairy sheds after a Waikato farmer recently found such a device in his milking shed.

The camera was aimed at the area where the farmer places milking cups on the cows, Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Lewis said.

It had been placed there without permission.

MIKE SCOTT/FAIRFAX NZ The last thing dairy farmers need is to be paranoid about being watched, Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Lewis says.

"That's very much a concern, not just because it's illegal or the privacy issues, but it's also all the other issues around on farm security, health and safety and all of the other things farmers have to deal with and then you find you have been snooped on for no reason.

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"You can only imagine what any person in New Zealand would feel like."

Lewis said he would be shocked if this had happened to him.

"I'd be a bit puzzled and unsure why I've been picked on and targeted. If you are going about your business in a legal way, why should you be harassed?"

He believed the average New Zealander would be disgusted by the act.

"No one likes being recorded in private by any individuals. Any New Zealander would feel that this is a big invasion of their privacy."

Lewis understood that the camera was spotted by the farmer after a blinking LED light was noticed in the shed's ceiling. The farmer then realised what it was after it was pulled down.

Lewis' farm at Pukeatua, south of Te Awamutu, had security cameras fitted, but his staff and any contractors working on the property knew the cameras were there and there are signs warning people that the farm was being monitored.

Federated Farmers and dairy industry body DairyNZ have warned farmers to watch out for strangers wandering around on their property and to consider installing cameras of their own to increase their security.

The discovery of the camera was a timely reminder of the importance of on farm security and came after incidents of rustling and other thefts around farms, Lewis said.

"This is just another thing for farmers to worry about and while they are working bloody hard and doing the best they can, they have to be paranoid about being watched all the time."

Lewis said so far a camera had only been found on one farm, but he was also aware of rumours that cameras had been found on other farms, including the discovery by the farmer of four days of digital recording.

He also understood the New Zealand police were investigating it.

While he would not comment on who he believed put the camera there, a message alerting farmers of the camera on the federation's facebook page pointed the finger at animal rights activists.

"It seems there are people around who think filming dairy cows being milked will give them evidence of animal welfare issues," it said.

However, Animal Rights group SAFE said the cameras did not belong to it, while another group, Farmwatch, would neither confirm nor deny they installed the cameras.

Farmwatch investigator John Darroch told RNZ the group did not comment on operational matters, or how they carried out investigations.

"I'm not willing to comment, but what I would say is you should contact [Ministry for Primary Industries] and see if they are their cameras, because since our investigation last year I've been pushing them to take a more proactive approach - we've seen that a complaint based system doesn't work."

Bobby calf abuse made headlines last year when SAFE and Farmwatch released video footage, showing calves thrown on trucks and bashed at a slaughterhouse before being killed.

"When we put out cameras last year, in most instances we found examples of animal abuse," Darroch said.

"I think if the Ministry for Primary Industries or the dairy industry itself used cameras to monitor dairy farms, the public would be shocked by what they see."

The Ministry for Primary Industries is responding to media reports of hidden cameras on some Waikato rural properties.

MPI Waikato/Bay of Plenty Compliance Manager Brendon Mikkelsen says if there are cameras in Waikato Dairy sheds, they are not Ministry for Primary Industries cameras.

He says the Ministry for Primary Industries will support any NZ Police investigation.