Just under 100 complaints nationwide resulted in prosecutions, with thousands more resulting in verbal advice, education letters, written warnings, and other "investigation outcomes".
MPI presently found about 27 per cent of complaints were unsubstantiated on inspection.
"With the increasing mobility of New Zealand's population in the pursuit of recreational activities, greater numbers of urban Kiwis are exploring the rural reaches of New Zealand," Mr Orr said.
"Unfortunately, a lot of these visitors apply their pet standards to production animals and they can be a little surprised to learn it is not illegal to allow sheep to give birth in the rain or a chicken farmer doesn't have to muster his free range chickens into the shed during a storm."
Federated Farmers Wairarapa president Jamie Falloon likewise expected some complaints were due to a lack of farming knowledge.
"A good case in point is farm dogs," he said. "People complain that they look skinny, but it's the difference between a fat dog and a dog which is at working weight.
"You can't expect a fat, unfit dog to do a whole day's work like a sheep dog does.
"In the heart of summer, they burn off a fair amount of energy so you've got to feed them appropriately but they're always going to be pretty lean."
Meanwhile, Federated Farmers Rotorua-Taupo president Alan Wills believed "very difficult circumstances" were generally behind proven cases of neglect.
"With compliance ramping up in all fields, not just animal welfare, but nutrients, effluents, health and safety, and farm employment records, there's a fair bit to get your head around," he said.
"In saying that, I'd like to think there's not too much in the way of ignorance going on."
The Government has just funded another six full time animal welfare inspectors, taking the total to 17 nationally.
Farm animal welfare complaints
Year - Commercial farm - Lifestyle - Other - Total
• 2010 - 432 - 149 - 24 - 607
• 2011 -362 - 125 - 80 - 567
• 2012 - 280 - 119 - 52 - 451
• 2013 - 381 - 170 - 73 - 624
• 2014 - 395 - 222 - 81 - 698
Investigation outcomes
Year - Under investigation - Closed -Other agency - Verbal advice - Education hand out - Education letter - Official warning - Written warning - Court order - ProsecutionTotal
• 2010 - 0 - 281 - 49 - 179 - 32 - 66 - 7 - 6 - 2 - 3 - 625
• 2011 - 0 - 206 - 21 - 165 - 114 - 58 - 9 - 6 - 2 - 8 - 589
• 2012 - 0 - 167 - 43 - 130 - 89 - 37 - 5 - 33 - 4 - 26 - 534
• 2013 - 16 - 265 - 26 - 160 - 63 - 75 - 0 - 57 - 3 - 33 - 698
• 2014 - 30 - 280 - 30 - 202 - 41 - 61 - 0 - 81 - 2 - 28 - 755
(Source: MPI)
