A hefty fine has been handed down to former Southland Federated Farmers president Allan Baird, whose inaction on his dairy farm was "careless".
Baird and his two companies, Benlyon Ltd and Vendale Ltd, were fined a total of $39,600 when he appeared for sentencing in the Invercargill District Court on Monday.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to the three charges of discharging dairy effluent onto land on October 20, 2016, in circumstances that may result in the effluent entering a waterway.
Environment Court judge Brian Dwyer denied Baird's application for a discharge without conviction.
Baird had informed Environment Southland staff on the day in question that dairy shed effluent from his farm's irrigation system had discharged into a tributary of the Winton Stream.
Council officers found significant effluent ponding from the stationary irrigator and it was flowing overland into the waterway.
Despite this, he's trying to play the victim here. Which shows us exactly how much contempt his organisation has for basic environmental legislation.