Fed Farmers dairy boss responds to mistreatment reports

Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie.

Federated Farmers Dairy chairman Lachlan McKenzie writes on recent reports of mistreatment of animals on a NZ dairy farm:

Over recent days I have seen some of the saddest images in my farming career. Dozens of seemingly dehydrated calves is not what farming is about. There is justifiable public revulsion about what appears to be unacceptably bad practice.

If you think I am evasive by using 'appears' and 'seemingly', it's reflective of a matter under active investigation. Farming is not these images. Any right to farm animals carries with it heavy ethical obligations towards these animals.

While Britain may be considered a country of dog lovers, New Zealand is a country of farmers. It forms an indelible part of our identity, even for those with no direct connection to farming.

Good farmers, thankfully the overwhelming majority of us, do not take animals for granted. It doesn't matter if an animal is alive for a few days or for longer, we farmers have an absolute duty of care to ensure they are treated humanely and ethically.

That's why I wish to pay tribute to the unnamed person, a fellow farmer I am led to believe, who took the video footage and reported the incident to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF).

Farming is no closed shop. There is no code of silence. Farmers do not turn a blind eye to maltreatment but report it. Our honour as farmers depends upon it.

Farming operates under the Animal Welfare Act and under guidance from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council or NAWAC. NAWAC consists of independent and appointed members from the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Veterinary Association, the Society of Animal Production and includes the President of Federated Farmers among others.

NAWAC is not farmers watching out for farmers, but people who make the ethical and humane treatment of animals central to our farming system.

The enforcement unit in MAF has made 300 unannounced visits to dairy farms this year without detecting a breach. These proactive visits are undertaken to check compliance with minimum standards for the welfare of bobby calves.

While the breach of any code provision isn't an offence in itself, breaches can be used in evidence under the Animal Welfare Act. Although television coverage has raised questions over the resourcing of MAF's enforcement unit, it's ultimately a team effort and MAF isn't alone.

The RSPCA, vets, contractors, farmers and the general public are on the outlook for maltreatment. Farmers do look over the fence and if there is neglect or maltreatment, no one should hesitate calling MAF, the RSPCA or even the Police.

Much of what we farmers do is done in the open and in daylight. Farmers can't and shouldn't hide from the tens of thousands of eyes passing their farms each day.

Yet the actions and attitudes of those involved in this alleged incident raise a wider important question about moral behaviour in our society.

The staff on my farm, no matter how young or inexperienced, know the difference between right and wrong. Neglect is inexcusable and the codes of practice we have would be impotent without farmers embracing the spirit within them.

While neglect is unacceptable, there are fewer than 100 farm animal incidents each year from the tens of millions of animals on New Zealand's farms. Actual prosecutions can be counted on less than the fingers of one hand.

In contrast to the images on television, farmers form a powerful bond with the animals they farm. With bobby calves, the overwhelming majority of farmers ensure they are well fed and sheltered. Before they can be processed for human consumption or pet food, bobby calves must be fit and healthy and able to move freely and naturally.

Yet a small number of calves are not born fit or healthy and this leads to euthanasia. This is a reality of farming that can easily be taken out of context.

I can assure you that guidance and practise exists to ensure there is no suffering to the animal. Farmers are human too and acting humanely is the basis of that obligation we owe farm animals.

While some may claim our country's brand is 'clean and green', it's not. Our brand is built on a much more complex set of factors than some jingle.

Right at the centre of our brand is one word - trust. Trust between consumers and farmers. Trust that the food and fibre they consume has not come out of a farm animals suffering.

Consumers should not judge or typecast every farmer by what they see on television. That's why Federated Farmers Farm Day on 28 March 2010, provides an opportunity for people to visit real farms and talk to real farmers.

So is dairy farming now heartless industrial farming as one commentator has claimed? No, it's not. For industrial farming look towards Europe where animals can literally be born, raised and end their days all inside a barn.

Industrial farming is the antithesis of the free-range system that operates here. Industrial farming is not in the psyche of New Zealand's farmers. If I can take one positive from the negatives, it shows how farmers will not stand for the poor actions of others.

That's why Federated Farmers does not condone, excuse or justify the maltreatment of any farm animals. Our reputation as farmers, as exporters and above all, as people, is defined by how we treat our farm animals.



Lachlan McKenzie