The time has come for industry leaders to step up their crusade against dirty dairying.

It’s obvious that low court fines and threats not to pick up milk are no longer working with a handful of dairy farmers.

While undoing the good work of thousands of responsible dairy farmers, these offending farmers are also gaining international notoriety.

A recent Environment Court fine handed down to a repeat New Zealand offender got coverage from both UK and the US media.

That means it’s only a matter of time before UK farming lobbyists pick up such reports and use it against our industry.

Federated Farmers Dairy rightly points out that most dairy farmers respect the environment… but there are still some tardy farmers.

It likens the situation to driving on the motorway.

While most drivers adhere to the speed limit, there are a handful who choose to speed and are nabbed by patrol cars.

The dairy industry needs its own set of patrols to nab repeat polluters and get tough with them.

Like a repeat drunken driver, repeat dairy polluters should have their licence for dairy farming suspended.

This is where Fonterra can play a more active role.

Last year it released a policy to penalise repeat offenders and eventually suspend milk collection from their farms.

To date no one has been suspended despite continued reports of repeat offenders.

It’s time for Fonterra to show the industry and the ever-growing group of environment savvy international consumers that it’s serious about sustainability.

At the heart of Fonterra’s strategy is its foundation theme: ‘A sustainable cooperative’.

It recognises that the cooperative is committed to growing a business that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.

The cooperative has a team of sustainable dairying specialists working one-on-one with farmers.

Yet a handful of farmers continue to get away by polluting waterways and incurring fines that don’t hit hard enough at the hip pocket.

Most dairy farmers respect the environment and their farming practices are commendable.

But it’s time for the industry and especially Fonterra to get tough on the culprits – time to show everyone that there is no place for dirty dairying in New Zealand.