It isn’t easy to run a large multi-property dairy operation and it is impossible for the owners to keep a close watch on what is happening all the time.
You need very good systems and processes to ensure good practices but they are only as good as the people you employ.
Animal welfare must be the first priority in any livestock operation and there is never any excuse for cruelty or neglect. Nor is there any excuse for repeated violations of resource consent conditions.
When you have only one farm you are always aware of the potential for problems because mistakes are made and accidents happen. The bigger the operation, the greater the potential for errors and the best of owners can be let down by poor employees.
But no matter what size the operation is, when mistakes are repeated and accidents reoccur it looks like there are problems with systems and processes which have led to poor practices.
Cactus Kate is a wee bit more forthright.
Homepaddock 
My views exactly.
🙂
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Agree and it is difficult to judge if these guys are cowboys or being picked upon.
However is it an excuse for a construction company to lack ssafety procedures and have high death rates just because they are “big”? Nope.
The Crafar’s clearly have attitudinal issues and would have been best to employ a PR agent to deal with the media rather than go near them.
They have done themselves no favours by acting outwardly like pricks.
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One of the problems when the hands on application of the farmer working his unit moves to the corporate model is the lack of commitment of the hired hand compared to that of the owner operator. Say 5.00 pm friday, happyhour at the local beckons, an animal needs attention. The owner puts the pleasure aside and ministers the necessary intervention, the hired hand however may look the other way and a neglect or cruelty problem arises.
Obviously the Crafers could not have had control and management systems in place to make the appropiate response hence the financial repercussions of prosecution for breaches of effluent breaches.
A very good operator of a single unit farm even a diverse one will not have any concept of the systems required to manage a corporate one involving a multi location, product diverse, climate/geographic variable operation.
It is obvious the Crafer family failed miserably in this facet and are now bitter and looking for someone else to blame for this meltdown.
C K sums it up very well but sadly this will reflect badly on the many good operators in the industry.
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