A Rotorua dairy farm manager has been fined $3500 for hitting cows from behind with his four-wheel drive ute.
Kerry James Murphy, 29, was convicted in the Huntly District Court on Thursday after a Ministry for Primary Industries investigation.
On April 19, 2015, Murphy drove his ute down a farm race and hit a number of cows from behind with the bull bars, said the ministry.
Murphy was the manager of a Te Kauwhata dairy farm at the time.
MPI spokesman Gary Orr said the cows were running as fast as they could.