Bikinis in cowshed
OPINION: An animal activist organisation is calling for an investigation into the use of dairy cows in sexuallly explicit content posted on social media and adult entertainment subscription site OnlyFans.
One of the people who shot the footage shown on television says they didn't hand over the first lot of video made last year because they wanted to get greater proof of the widespread abuse of bobby calves.
John Darroch, from Farmwatch, told Dairy News that pictures of the calves in crates was taken last season and the other footage this season. They had difficulty filming some of the calves being thrown onto trucks and he personally saw at least eight instances of this happening but they were impossible to film.
"I can now confidently say that the rough handling of bobby calves onto trucks is widespread," he says.
Darroch says they took their footage from the side of the road and at times feared for their own safety had farmers caught them doing this. A couple of times farmers challenged what they were doing but didn't realise they were animal rights people.
Darroch says he's worked on a dairy farm and he has met other farmers keen to show him how well they look after their animals.
"We're not out there to demonise farmers and the dairy industry. I think there are some widespread issues that need to be tackled but certainly I haven't got anything against farmers as whole. In fact I have massive sympathy for them for what they are going through with low milk prices and the stress this involves," he says.
Darroch says he wants to scotch one suggestion that farmers didn't know about the ways the calves were being thrown onto trucks. He says most of the crates the bobby calves were held in were clearly visible from the farmhouse.
The basis for making great cheese is good milk, says the owner of Banks Peninsula's Barry's Bay Cheese, which was named Champion of Champons Mid-Size, for its traditional Aged Gouda, at this year's NZ Champions of Cheese Awards.
The 2024 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year, Ben Purua has been named farmer-backed charity Meet the Need's first official ambassador.
Global dairy prices have ended a two-month run of losses.
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In a major win for farmers, the Government has directed regional councils to halt all work on plans and regional policy statement reviews under the Resource Management Act (RMA).
A Chinese business leader says Chinese investors are unfairly viewed as potential security risks in New Zealand.
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