Fonterras association with Crafars a bad look

Fonterra should protect the reputation of the majority of New Zealand’s farmers by taking action against the despicable practices of Crafar Farms, the Green Party said today.

“Fonterra simply should not be collecting milk from a farm where animals have been starved to death and grossly neglected,” Dr Russel Norman, Green Party Co-Leader said.

It was revealed yesterday that dozens of calves at the Crafars’ Benneydale dairy farm had been starved and dehydrated to death because farm staff had not trained the calves to drink milk from troughs. Staff from the farm had also bludgeoned a number of calves to death in advance of a MAF inspection.

“If Fonterra continues to accept milk from the Crafars’ Benneydale farm it will damage its own reputation for producing clean, green, 100% pure New Zealand milk, and the reputations of all its members,” Dr Norman said.

The Green Party last year called on Fonterra to apply financial penalties to milk from those Crafar Farms convicted of illegally discharging effluent into rivers and streams.

“It is not a good look for Fonterra to implicitly condone the actions of these Crafar farms by continuing to accept their milk. It is clear that both animal welfare and discharge practices on these Crafar Farms are totally unacceptable, not only to the public, but to the majority of New Zealand farmers.

“MAF also needs to explain why it gave Benneydale farm advance warning of its visit earlier this month and what it will take to lay charges over the incident.”

Crafar Farms pleaded guilty to 56 charges of animal neglect on another farm in 2006.

“The shocking images from Benneydale have the potential to do huge damage to New Zealand’s international reputation, and Fonterra and MAF need to act swiftly and decisively to show that such practices will not be tolerated,” Dr Norman said.