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Beef+Lamb NZ chair Andrew Morrison and Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee chair Nuku Hadfield with the Ahuwhenua Trophy at the recent Red Meat Sector conference.
Māori sheep and beef farmers are being urged to enter the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy competition.
The official competition launch was held at the recent Red Meat Sector Conference dinner, where the trophy was officially welcomed on to the site and displayed to delegates.
The competition is designed to recognise excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming and was initiated in 1933 by Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time, Lord Bledisloe.
Chair of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee, which runs the competition, Nuku Hadfield says the competition offers a unique opportunity for individual Māori farmers, trusts and incorporations to showcase their excellent farming enterprises to both Māori and the wider farming sector.
She says Māori contribute more than 15% of red meat exports and have done much to expand and develop their farming operations - both in terms of sustainability and profitability. Hadfield and her husband Bart are previous winners of the trophy.
She told Rural News that all previous participants in the competition have said it was an invaluable exercise and through the judging process they gained feedback that they otherwise wouldn't have got.
Hadfield says the time and effort in entering the Ahuwhenua Trophy is more than mad up for by the benefits that can accrue - including becoming a finalist and winning the award.
Beef+Lamb New Zealand chair Andrew Morrison says it was very exciting to launch the competition at the Red Meat Sector Conference. He says having the trophy on display to such a large and influential gathering helped raise the profile of the event.
Morrison hopes the profile of the launch will help attract Māori farmers and organisations to enter the Ahuwhenua competition and motivate other companies, who have dealing with Māori farmers, to encourage their clients to enter.
Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says it was great to see the trophy in all its splendour displayed at the conference, because it acted as a reminder about the history and the growing importance of Māori agribusiness.
O'Connor says change is becoming more acute and challenging to manage but he believes that farmers always want to do better.
"A competition like Ahuwhenua allows them to analyse and measure themselves against others who are aspired to be the best and that is huge value across the sector," he told Rural News.
The winner will be announced at a gala dinner in Hawke's Bay in May 2022.
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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