increase font size
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani Incorporation (WMI) representatives with the Ahuwhenua trophy.
A dairy farm owned by one of the largest Māori dairying farming operations in the country has won the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm for 2024.
There was great jubilation when Kingi Smiler, the chair of Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani Incorporation (WMI), was presented with the trophy by the Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka at a gala dinner held in Hamilton recently. For Smiler it was a special moment as he has connections to the past two winners (for sheep and beef and horticulture) of this prestigious trophy.
The function was attended by 860 people, which included the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Nicola Willis, the Māori King along with diplomats from the United Kingdom, Ireland, the European Union and Canada. There were representatives of central and local government, agribusiness leaders, sponsors of the awards, previous winners and whānau from all the finalists.
WMI consists of 12 dairy units across 4300ha, plus three dairy support units. But it entered just one of these in the competition - Farm 4 and this was the winning farm. The property has a milking platform of 300ha, milking 980 cows and producing 416,000 kgMS. All up, WMI produce about five million kilograms of milk-solids from their 12,000 cow herd and are the largest supplier to milk processor Miraka Ltd.
The other finalist in the competition was Whakatohea Māori Board whose farm is near the Eastern Bay of Plenty township of Opotiki.
Tama Potaka described the Ahuwhenua Trophy as the most prestigious award in Māori farming that acknowledges and celebrates business excellence in NZ’s important pastoral and horticultural sectors. He says for Māori, the award is a demonstration of success and pride, but also a demonstration of identity which is inextricably linked into land, seas, forests mountains and rivers.
“What we saw at the awards night was an expression of identity,” he says.
Smiler says that after winning the competition he was both elated and relieved and added it was a tough competition being up against Whakatohera. He says he takes a lot of pride out of winning the award because it shows the reward for all at WMI.
“Personally I like the challenge which requires us to work hard and it’s really good that our teams work together well and have managed to achieve this award,” he says.
For Finance Minister Nicola Willis, it was her first experience of attending the awards evening and she loved it, saying it was wonderful to see the dairy industry celebrated in this way. She says she was particularly impressed with the finalists in the Young Māori Farmer competition.
“The Māori economy is huge and has been growing very fast and is of massive potential. It’s grown from $16 billion to $70 billion in only 20 years and is making a huge difference to the whole of the economy of the country,” she says.
Young Māori Farmer Winner
As part of the gala dinner the winner of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer for dairy was also announced.
Spontaneous haka and waiata greeted the news that 29 yearold Ben Purua, a farm manager at Waimakariri Lands Ltd, near Tirau was the 2024 winner. This the second time he has entered the competition, but missed out three years ago.
The announcement was made by Dr Charlotte Severne, the Māori Trustee and chief executive of Te Tumu Paeroa. As well as presenting Ben Purua with the trophy she also gave each of the three finalists a $7,500 scholarship to be used to help them develop their careers. The other two finalists were Hannah Speakman and Shayden Gardiner.
Recently two of New Zealand's top Maori sheep and beef farms held field days as part of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition. The two are: Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust, northeast of Whangarei, and the proprietors of Tawapata Onenui farm on Mahia Peninsula in southern Hawke's Bay. Reporter Peter Burke attended both field days.
The drought breaking rain in Northland was greeted with much joy and delight by the more than 200 people who turned out last week for a field day at the farm of Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust near the east coast settlement of Whangaruru, about 70km from Whangarei.
Farms from Northland and northern Hawke's Bay are the finalists in this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy competition for the top Māori sheep and beef farms.
Maori farms from Northland and Northern Hawkes Bay are the finalists in this year’s prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition for the top Maori sheep and beef farm.
The Māori agriculture sector is experiencing major growth and the Director General of Ministry for Primary Industries Ray Smith says it's an area to watch with its value trebling in the past decade.
Recent rain has offered respite for some from the ongoing drought.
New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.
With much of the North Island experiencing drought this summer and climate change projected to bring drier and hotter conditions, securing New Zealand’s freshwater resilience is vital, according to state-owned GNS Science.
OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
The golden age of orcharding in West Auckland was recently celebrated at the launch of a book which tells the story of its rise, then retreat in the face of industry change and urban expansion.
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…
OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.
