Source: SAFE For Animals
SAFE is condemning Lincoln University after footage from its own dairy demonstration farm, filmed between 11-13 August, reveals animal suffering and squalid winter conditions at what is touted as a “world-best practice” facility.
The Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) is promoted as a global leader in pastoral dairy systems, attracting international students and showcasing New Zealand farming to the world. According to its website, LUDF’s primary aim is to “protect our people, our cows and our environment – both now and into the future.” Instead, the footage paints a grim picture of what “best practice” in New Zealand dairy really looks like.
Calves are seen piled on top of each other in a trailer. A mother cow is chased aggressively by a farmer on a quad bike after being separated from her calf. Cows and newborn calves stand ankle-deep in a foul mixture of mud, faeces, and urine, with no dry place to rest during the depths of winter. At least one cow appears to have a broken tail.
“This is meant to be the gold standard for dairy,” says SAFE Campaign Manager Emma Brodie.
“If this is what Lincoln University holds up as world-best practice, it shows just how deeply animal suffering is embedded in New Zealand’s dairy industry.”
SAFE believes these practices are not only cruel to animals, but also environmentally irresponsible. Intensive dairying and mud farming in Canterbury are contributing to nitrate leaching, contaminating waterways and threatening the safety of community drinking water. By continuing these practices, SAFE says that Lincoln University is falling far short of the sustainability and environmental stewardship it claims to uphold.
“Continuing mud farming in Canterbury is not only cruel, it is environmentally reckless, and it undermines everything this university says it stands for,” says Brodie.
SAFE has written to Lincoln University to express serious concerns about the treatment of animals at the farm and lodged a formal complaint with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
The release of the footage comes as SAFE ramps up its campaign to end mud farming, alongside a new awareness drive for calving season that exposes the brutal reality faced by newborn calves, two million of which will be killed this year within their first week of life.
“This is the training ground for future dairy farmers,” says Brodie.
“If this farm is showing students that mistreating animals and forcing them to endure freezing, filthy conditions is normal, it sets a perilous example for the entire industry – and the world is watching.”
SAFE is urging the public to sign its petition to end mud farming and to take a stand against the cruelty at the heart of the dairy industry by going dairy-free.
SAFE is Aotearoa’s leading animal rights organisation.
We’re creating a future that ensures the rights of animals are respected. Our core work empowers society to make kinder choices for ourselves, animals and our planet.
Notes:
- Footage and still images taken at Lincoln University Dairy Demonstration Farm between 11-13th August, 2025.
- The Lincoln Dairy Demonstration Farm (LUDF) is managed by the South Island Dairying Demonstration Centre (SIDDC), an industry funded partnership of 7 leading dairy sector organisations including Dairy NZ, Fonterra, and AG Research. They “work to promote sustainable dairying through collaborative research and extension for farmers.”
- SAFE has launched ads in cinemas across Aotearoa to raise awareness about the plight of bobby calves in New Zealand’s dairy industry.
