The cows' plight went viral after video shot from a helicopter showed them huddled on an elevated patch of grass near Kaikoura, about 150 kilometres northeast of Christchurch.
The ground around them had apparently shifted or collapsed during the magnitude 7.8 tremor.
The farmer, said the cows were part of a group of 14 he rescued, worked with a team to dig a path for the cattle to escape after determining the land was safe.
"They desperately needed water and I think one or two had lost calves in the earthquake, so they were a bit distressed."
Kaikoura was completely cut off by massive landslips following the tremor, which struck just after midnight on Sunday, destroying homesteads and cutting road and rail links throughout the northeast of the South Island.
"We did lose stock. The whole hillside fell during the earthquake and we had a lot of stock on there — we don't know what we've got," the farmer said.
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