The farmer-funded DairyNZ said it will not appeal against an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) decision that backed a Greenpeace ad attacking the industry's record on water quality.
DairyNZ laid a complaint against the Greenpeace ad with the ASA on the ground that it was misleading, but the authority ruled early this year that it was truthful.
The ad showed children splashing in clean water and urged Kiwis to petition the Government to clean up waterways poisoned by the dairy farming industry. "More than 60 per cent of monitored rivers are unsafe to swim in," Greenpeace said in the ad.
"Water supplies are being polluted by industrial dairy farming and massive irrigation schemes," it said.
DairyNZ said in a statement it was disappointed the ASA did not uphold its complaint.