More than 100 cows had to be put down after an investigation into a Taupo farm with links to the Crafar family was launched.
Yesterday, five men went on trial in the Rotorua District Court accused of 714 counts of animal cruelty.
Ross Andrew Cottier and Murray James Flett, the two directors of Southland sharemilking company MilkPride, appeared alongside general manager Craig Allan Coote and employee Raymond Arthur Griffin.
All pleaded not guilty to ill treatment and failure to provide for the animals’ physical health, both criminal offences under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
MilkPride faces 222 charges, along with Mr Griffin, who was in charge of the animals. The other three men face 90 charges each.
Judge Phil Cooper, who is overseeing the judge-alone trial, was yesterday told many of the cows were starving.
Rotorua crown prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch said about 1100 cows were considered to be in poor condition, with about 392 of those showing signs of emaciation, lack of energy, sunken eyes and dirty coat.
More than 100 were euthanased due to poor condition, Mr Pilditch alleged.
The case is likely to hinge on whether their condition was correctly assessed.
At the time the alleged offences occurred, MilkPride was in a sharemilking arrangement with Taharua, a subsidiary of Crafar Farms.
The prosecution will call about 30 witnesses, ranging from the officials who carried out the investigation, to Fonterra and Niwa representatives, and the case is expected to take a month.