In 2017, Nick Bertram posted on Twitter a series of tweets including his suggested methods for introducing the animals to milking.
“Put a pipe up there c… an blow them up with air. Wrks a treat they freeze to the spot and let milk down. I never tie up or use oxytocin [sic]” one tweet read.
Tararua farmer Bertram and his wife, Rose, were named Share Farmers of the Year at the New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA) on Saturday.
Safe chief executive Debra Ashton said Bertram set the bar very low for industry excellence.
“Bertram’s attitude towards animals is disrespectful, and the proof is in his tweets,” she said. “The lack of scrutiny calls into question the merit of title.”
Other tweets, accompanied by pictures of cows in the process of calving, read “When you try and help the smart b…. in paddock and she ends up with your calving rope” and “This b…. doing the walk of shame. Big feet little h… best unrap my new calving pulleys [sic].”
After the tweets came to light on Thursday, Bertram issued an apology, saying he was “embarrassed and ashamed”.
“Viewing them myself I am very embarrassed and would like to sincerely apologise for these tweets, for bad language and questionable techniques.
“I had made a few tongue-in-cheek jokes. On the most controversial tweet I did comment at the time further down in the thread, ‘To make it clear this not a practice that we do and I am stirring the pot’.”
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TWITTER
Share farmer of the Year Nick Bertram is in hot water over tweets from 2017.
Bertram said animal health and wellbeing were a huge focus of his farm operation and the tweets did not reflect his level of respect for his animals.
He now understood their content was “highly inappropriate” for social media.
“Looking back on my tweets I am embarrassed and ashamed to have tweeted something like that. I now have a far better understanding of social media, realising that Twitter is a very public forum.
”I unreservedly apologise for these tweets and the offence they have caused. I welcome anybody to our farm, who would like to view our operation, to see how we treat our animals and the high level of respect we show them.”
Ashton said the NZDIA should strip Bertram of his award.
“If this farmer is the best of the best, the reputation of the dairy industry and New Zealand are in serious trouble.”
Natasha Tere, Dairy Industry Awards Trust chairwoman said the trust had been made aware of Bertram’s comments and would be investigating.
The awards followed a “robust and thorough” judging process based on what was happening on-farm today, she said.
“Entrants are judged on information presented and on the farming practices the person follows currently.
“Judges do not look for and are not aware of historical social media comments.”
Tere said the NZDIA was proud of its more than 30-year history of helping dairy farmers learn, connect and grow through its awards programme, which allowed entrants to understand best practice, benchmark and improve their own farming practices.
