Dairy farming company Tihiroa Farms Limited has been convicted and fined $37,750 for unlawful discharge of effluent into the environment.

The sentence was imposed in Hamilton by District Court Judge Melinda Dickey on 21 November 2025 as a result of a prosecution taken under the Resource Management Act by Waikato Regional Council.

Council officers conducted an inspection at a farm near Ōtorohanga in September last year where Tihiroa Farms Limited is employed as a share milker. The officers found dairy effluent discharged from an irrigator was causing an overland flow directly into the Ongaruhe Stream, a tributary of the Waipā River.

“Despite having adequate effluent infrastructure in place on the farm, the defendant had failed to put in place robust management practices to prevent against discharges into nearby waterways. The impacts on this stream were significant,” said Regional Compliance Manager Patrick Lynch.

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