The owners of the country's biggest family dairy farm business in New Zealand are being sentenced at the Hamilton District Court on Friday, on 34 charges relating to the illegal discharge of effluent.
Frank and Allan Crafar of Reparoa, who are the directors of a number of central North Island farms, were convicted in a reserved judgement in relation to offences between October 2007 - April 2008.
Their company, Hillside Farm, and Allan Crafar's wife Elizabeth Crafar, who is also a company director, were prosecuted by the Waikato Regional Council.
The Crafars, as absentee landlords, are connected to a number of seven offences since 2001, but in some cases their sharemilkers have been held responsible.
