Couple's Ahuwhenua win 57 years ago still tasting sweet
This week the winner of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori Dairy farm will be announced at a gala dinner in Hamilton.
The field day at Rakaia was another great event, says Kingi Smiler, chairman of the Ahuwhenua management committee which runs the trophy competition.
About 200 people attended the day.
Smiler says Rakaia Incorporation has huge local support and a wonderful story to tell about the history of the farm – one it tells beautifully. The story tells how they took back control of their lands after suffering during the colonisation process.
The decision to convert the land to dairying was a brave one at the time and the whanau has a great sense of pride about its achievements.
"Tahu a Tao is like many Maori farms which are managing the volatility in the dairy industry and still making a profit while most other dairy farms will be making losses this season.
"There are a couple of key reasons for that. Maori farming is focused on intergenerational outcomes so they are not farming for capital gains and are not looking at the property market. Instead they are working and sustaining the land and deriving a yield so that they can support each generation of shareholders so that all get some benefit from the property.
"It's a completely differently philosophy and therefore their onfarm focus on performance is there every year, not just when prices pick up."
Smiler says Rakaia Incorporation has been tight on farm working expenses and has done a wonderful job getting high productivity at low cost – superior to most farms in this region and nationwide. Low debt enables them to manage well.
Maori farms generally have good sustainable farming systems which clearly work, and in these tough times Smiler expects other farmers to start adopting some of these practices.
At least 800 people have recently attended the field days of the three Ahuwhenua Trophy finalists, an excellent turnout, Smiler says. The competition instills pride and mana in whanau directly involved and in Maori generally. He hopes this will help motivate them to pass this on to successive generations.
An awards dinner and ceremony will be held on Friday May 20 in Hamilton. About 800 people are expected to attend.
South Waikato farm manager Ben Purua’s amazing transformation from gang life to milking cows was rewarded with the Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmer award last night.
Bankers have been making record profits in the last few years, but those aren’t the only records they’ve been breaking, says Federated Farmers vice president Richard McIntyre.
The 2023-24 season has been a roller coaster ride for Waikato dairy farmers, according to Federated Farmers dairy section chair, Mathew Zonderop.
Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) director general Ray Smith says job cuts announced this morning will not impact the way the Ministry is organised or merge business units.
Scales Corporation is acquiring a number of orchard assets from Bostock Group.
Family and solidarity shone through at the 75 years of Ferdon sale in Otorohanga last month.
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