At the end of May, the winner of the Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori sheep and beef farm will be announced at a gala dinner in Gisborne.

Good Māori farms shouldn’t just be pigeon-holed as good Māori farms, they should just be recognised as top farms globally.

“The huge turnout to our field day has blown me away.”

The East Coast of the North Island features prominently in this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award for Sheep and Beef.

A field day at historic Gwavas Station, Tikokino in Central Hawke’s Bay this week attracted a good crowd of people keen to see why this property is a finalist in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming.

Two farms from the North Island east coast and one from Central Hawkes Bay are the finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua competition for the top Māori sheep and beef farm.

The three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori sheep and beef farm have been announced.

Māori sheep and beef farmers are being urged to enter the Ahuwhenua Trophy, Te Puni Kōkiri Excellence in Māori Farming Award 2019 for Sheep and Beef.  

Rotorua-based Onuku Māori Lands Trust scooped the 2018 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award for dairy. 

Moyra Bramley was born in 1933, the year Sir Apirana Ngata and Lord Bledisloe inaugurated the Ahuwhenua Trophy to recognise excellence in Maori farming — now Ms Bramley has at least a 50/50 chance of winning that trophy.