"This is how they make their money."
However, farming could be stressful at times, especially during calving, the mating season and when things weren't going right - like when there was a drought - but that didn't mean staff could take it out on the animals, the farming leader said.
"It's not the way to deal with it. Talk to someone, don't take it out on the animal ... if people aren't coping they need to talk about it. Deal with the stress or if you let it build up, it will only get worse and worse," he said. "Don't mistreat your stock."
Smith, 38, who was in charge of the day-to-day running of an Ashburton farm and the welfare of two herds of dairy cows, pleaded guilty to mistreating the herd he was working with and failing to provide treatment for the injured animals.
Concerns were raised in April after an artificial insemination technician working on the farm heard distress from the cows.
When she went to see what had happened Smith was angry with a cow that had blood running down her tail. A veterinarian was called to inspect the herd and found 154 cows had fractured tails.
When interviewed about the damaged tails, Smith said he was "sickened" by what he had done.
Smith was recently sentenced to eight months' home detention and banned from owning or working with animals.
Federated Farmers has welcomed the sentencing.
"If we look at this from the cow's perspective, there is now an indefinite ban on Mr Smith working with farm animals and that's a good thing," says Willy Leferink, Federated Farmers dairy chairperson. "While he has been sentenced to home detention the much bigger win for farming is the ban. It also sends a loud message to hot-heads that the dairy industry is not the place for them.
"Breaking a cow's tail on purpose is inhumane and defies every principle of stockmanship I know," he said.
He also said there was no room for animal cruelty on farms. "Animals that are in pain and distress are never going to be peak performers. They also become much harder to work with and to handle for obvious reasons.
"What I also took from this case is that the eyes of the entire industry are watching out for animal abuse."
Federated Farmers lawyers have prepared a guide for farmers trying to reconcile the Employment Relation's Act 2000 with the Animal Welfare Act 1999. This is available free to members from 0800 FARMING (0800 327 646) and from the members section at www.fedfarm.org.nz.
"Farmers need to ensure the employment agreements they use are fit for purpose because Federated Farmers employment agreements are designed specifically for farming. We also encourage farmers to access DairyNZ resources and events to help them with stockmanship.
"At least farmers and our cows can relax in the knowledge that this rooster will no longer be able to work with livestock," Mr Leferink concluded.
