Coby Warmington wins 2025 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award
Coby Warmington, 29, a farm manager at Waima Topu Beef near Hokianga was named at the winner of the 2025 Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer Award for sheep and beef.
Finalist for the Ahuwhenua Trophy were announced at a function at Parliament recently, hosted by the Minister for Primary Industries, Nathan Guy.
About 70 agribusiness leaders attended, seeing farmers from Mangaroa Station and Maranga Station, both in the East Coast region, and Paua Station, Far North, presented with medals for making the final.
Unusual this year is that two of the farms – Mangaroa and Maranga – are privately owned, while Paua Station is owned by the Parengarenga Incorporation. The last time the competition for sheep and beef was run, in 2013, all the finalists’ farms were owned by Maori trusts or incorporations.
Guy said Maori agribusiness, including forestry, contributes $3.5 billion to the New Zealand economy. Maori agribusiness is doing extremely well, and the Miraka Dairy Company winning Maori Exporter of the Year recently is an example of this, he said.
“If we don’t celebrate success in the primary sector, no one else is going to do it for us. That’s why having this event in Parliament is hugely important for Maori and for the primary sector as whole.”
Guy lauded the big turnout of dignitaries and foreshadowed a large attendance at the winner event in Whanganui late May. Agriculture must sell itself better to the community and attract the best and brightest young people, he says. The Ahuwhenua Trophy plays a big role in selling that story.
Kingi Smiler, the chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy management committee which runs the competition says all three farms are worthy finalists, demonstrating commitment and determination to create successful farming operations to benefit them and their whanau.
It is great to see whanau farms rewarded for their hard work, he says. “Like others, I’m looking forward to attending the field days at these properties. The field days are great events and I urge everyone in the agribusiness sector to take a few days out of the office and go into the real country and see what people achieve in challenging conditions. They do a great job.”
Smiler says the Ahuwhenua Trophy has contributed much to raising the profile of Maori agribusiness.
“The trophy has helped lift the bar behind the farm gate and we are seeing amazing innovation. The technology on many Maori farms is leading-edge and they benchmark favourably with all other farming operations in Aotearoa New Zealand. Improved governance and leadership of our whanau businesses has led to top people being employed as advisors, managers and general staff.”
Show and tell
In the coming weeks, each finalist will stage a field day on their properties for two purposes.
First, it’s part of the judging process where new judges – not involved in selecting the finalists – evaluate each property and decide on the ultimate winner of the trophy.
Second, the field days allow other farmers and people with an interest in Maori agribusiness – and anyone else – to visit the properties to see what the finalists have achieved.
Field days will take place at each farm:
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.
A tiny organism from the arid mountains of mainland Greece is facilitating a new way of growing healthier animals on farms across New Zealand.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.