A Golden Bay farm manager has been found guilty of a ill-treating cows, breaking their tails and hitting them with a metal pipe.

Steven John Wells, 45, was a farm manager at Maratoa Farm near Takaka, was convicted of six counts under the Animal Welfare Act.

The ruling was handed down in the Nelson District Court last week after a four day trial.

Mr Wells committed a number of offences on cows in his care between 2015 and 2016: breaking the tails of cows, kicking, needing and punching them.

He also hit the cows with a metal pipe.

Wells will be sentenced in the Nelson District Court on April 30.