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Dairy NZ’s Tim Mackle and Kingi Smiler hold the Bledisloe Cup, which will be awarded to the top Maori dairy farmer this time.
Aligning farming practices so they care for the environment is critical for New Zealand, says Maori agri-businessman, Kingi Smiler.
He said this last week at the launch of 2018 Ahuwhenua Trophy contest for Maori dairy farmers at Tainui College for Research & Development at Ngāruawāhia in Waikato.
Entries are now open.
Smiler, chair of the committee running the event, says NZ has been too slow in balancing farming practices so as to properly care for the environment. And unless the industry itself takes up the challenge, others will force farmers to do things and some won’t cope and will go out of business.
The annual Ahuwhenua Trophy contest is now in its 86th year, alternating each year between dairy and sheep and beef farming. The 2018 trophy will be awarded for dairying excellence.
Smiler says the Ahuwhenua contest has all along built up a rich cultural and spiritual history and become a symbol of excellence in farming. The entrants, finalists and winners have played a huge part in growing the legacy of Sir Apirana Ngata and Lord Bledisloe who inaugurated the competition.
The contest offers a great opportunity for all Maori farmers, especially those whose peak performance can be an example for other Maori farmers and the rest of the industry, Smiler says.
DairyNZ chief executive Tim Mackle, who formally launched the 2018 contest, says Maori values fit well with DNZ’s farming philosophy: sustainable, competitive and profitable - making a profit out of the actual business rather than relying on capital gains.
Mackle says DairyNZ has gained a lot during its ten years involvement in the Ahuwhenua contest. He hopes the entrants themselves have also benefitted.
The 2018 contest entries close on November 24; entry forms are available on the Ahuwhenua website.
In a few weeks the winner of the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm will be revealed at a gala dinner in Hamilton. In the past couple of weeks, the two finalists in this year’s competition have been holding on-farm field days to showcase why they are finalists. Peter Burke has attended both field days.
The finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy competition to select the top Māori dairy farm in the country are now busy planning and organising field days at their respective properties.
Two dairy farms – one at Mangakino in the central North Island and one at Opotiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty are the finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy.
The finalists for the 2024 Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori dairy farm were announced at a special function in Parliament earlier this week.
Entries to select the top Māori dairy farm for the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy competition are being invited from all Māori dairy farmers, trusts and other entities around the country.
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