increase font size
Te Tumu Paeroa chief executive Charlotte Severne says Māori want to help reduce agricultural emissions, but rural communities must thrive for this to happen.
In an unusual move, the Māori Trustee and chief executive of Te Tumu Paeroa Dr Charlotte Severne says she'll be making a submission on the Government's agricultural emissions proposals.
Severne administers as trustee or agent for approximately 1,800 Māori Land Trusts and other Māori entities. This is about one third of all Māori Land Trusts. Te Tumu Paeroa is therefore effectively a major Māori land owner.
Speaking exclusively to Rural News at the recent Ahuwhenua Trophy Awards she noted that the pressures on the sheep and beef sector now are real and she wants to see the rapid development of good well-qualified leaders. Severne is concerned about the way Māori are treated by some government departments.
"I believe that big parts of government don't understand Māori land. They think we are group of farms that are doing really well, whereas - in fact - most Māori land is on a lease portfolio and in small parcels," she told Rural News.
"Yes we have really great big farms, but a lot are small steep support farm and we are not being categorised well."
Severne says many Māori farms are disadvantaged - a fact borne out during the floods on the East Coast of the North Island in the middle of the year which saw many Māori farms over represented in those badly damaged by floods.
She says the hype and celebration of the Ahuwhenua Awards, while great, often blinds people to the reality of Māori farming.
"We are not characterised well by this government," she says.
Severne says Māori want to help reduce agricultural emissions, but she wants to see rural communities thrive and says that will be the key element of her submission.
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.
Movement controls have been lifted from Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove Farm in Otago, after the successful eradication of H7N6 strain of high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
Harvesting is underway of one of New Zealand’s rarest and most unusual fruit - persimmons.
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.
