A Southland farmer was convicted in Invercargill District Court for multiple breaches of the Resource Management Act after agricultural effluent from his large-scale Wagyu feedlot was repeatedly discharged into a local waterway. Andrew James Wright, from Tokanui, was found guilty of 35 offenses spanning from July 2023 to November 2024 related to poor waste management on his property.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Kelvin Reid described Wright’s conduct as deliberate and dismissive. The court heard that Wright constructed seven feed pads and effluent ponds over the course of a year without proper lining or construction standards. As a result, cattle were observed standing in liquid sludge that reached up to their udders.

Wright argued that adverse weather conditions in spring 2024 hindered his ability to manage livestock waste effectively. However, Judge Reid rejected this claim, noting that many of the discharges occurred well beyond spring, including in autumn and winter. The judge emphasized the seriousness of the offenses, saying the level of environmental harm was significant and unusual in cases before the court.

Investigations revealed that Wright had instructed employees to extract effluent from an estuary pond and spray it down a gully leading to a natural spring, despite being aware of the spring’s existence. Environment Southland officers estimated that more than 480,000 litres of effluent were discharged in this manner. The contamination flowed into the nearby Tokanui Stream, where organic material and sewage fungus were found.

The city council conducted repeated investigations between September and November 2024 but only later became fully aware of the extensive scale of Wright’s farming operations. Over the year in question, Wright reportedly earned more than NZ$1.8 million from his herd of 523 Wagyu cattle.

While Wright made some remedial efforts following the investigations, the judge deemed these insufficient to warrant a reduction in sentence. Environment Southland’s lawyer, Tim McGuigan, characterized Wright’s actions as part of an ongoing and entrenched pattern of noncompliance, noting his apparent low regard for regulatory obligations.

Wright was sentenced to 12 months of home detention, the maximum allowed under current provisions for such offenses.

This is not the farmer’s first run-in with the law regarding animal welfare and farm management. In 2013, during a winter inspection of a different property in Ida Valley, authorities found numerous animals in distress, including a lame bull and severely underweight livestock, as well as inadequate feed and water supplies. Wright was fined more than NZ$23,000 and ordered to have his farming operations monitored for a year by a person approved by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

In addition, Wright was convicted in 2020 of livestock theft for stealing 20 steers from neighbors. For that offense, he was ordered to pay over NZ$20,000 in reparations and fined NZ$1,500.