Gloriavale seeks injunction forcing Westland Dairy to continue collecting its milk

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Based on Dairy NZ’s industry database, and the average forecast farm gate milk price, Gloriavale’s income from its dairy farms could potentially be somewhere in the region of $10m.

The Gloriavale Christian community has sought a High Court injunction forcing Westland Dairy Company to continue collecting milk from its three farms.

The legal action comes less than a week after Westland Dairy Company, announced it would cease taking Gloriavale milk from June 13 following an Employment Court ruling that a number of the Christian community’s businesses were in breach of labour laws through use of child and volunteer labour.

A spokesperson for the dairy company, which trades as Westland Milk Products, said it had been advised of an injunction application seeking to compel it to perform the terms of its collection contracts, and take milk from all three Canaan Farming Dairy Limited properties.

“Both parties have agreed that Westland will continue to collect Canaan’s milk until the court has determined Canaan’s application for an interim injunction.”

Gloriavale businesses have links to the dairy and meat processing industries, and provide work for transport companies.

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In announcing an “indefinite” suspension of milk collection, Westland Dairy Company chief executive Richard Wyeth said it would only resume if Gloriavale demonstrated it could “adhere to the standards and values of not only Westland, but the standards and values of the wider New Zealand community as well as our customers”.

The suspension on Monday was to coincide with the end of the milking season to avoid issues with livestock welfare or milk disposal, and would have given Gloriavale leaders until the new milking season begins in early August to sort the labour issues.

But Canaan Farming Dairy has a herd of about 500 cows it milks through the winter which would have been affected by Westland Dairy’s refusal to take their milk.

Gloriavale leaders did not respond to a request for comment.

Reefton vet Julian Shorten said he had provided an affidavit in support of the Gloriavale injunction application because of the animal welfare risks.

He said he had provided veterinary services to the community since 2009, and if Westland Dairy declined to pick up the milk, “it will need to be dumped to land with all the environmental consequences, and those cows will have to be dried of at peak lactation with significant animal welfare issues”.

Shorten said if cows went unmilked there was a risk of them developing mastitis, and reducing milk production would require a reduction in the cows’ intake of food and water.

He said there was no question that Gloriavale needed to make changes, but it would take time.

“I’m really supportive of them changing, I’m just not supportive of them being destroyed in the process.”

“The [Employment Court] judgment is there, they need space to make the move, they don't need the boot put in.”