April 05, 2018
Tawhirimatea holds off for Mawhera field day
It's a fine day in Hokitika for the first field day for this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori farming excellence.
On display is Tuatahi Farm on just over 300 hectares of the Ahuriri Valley, which the Mawhera Incorporation farms in partnership with sharemilkers Mark and Debbie Van Beek.
Ahuwhenua chair Kingi Smiler says Mawhera chair James Russell is also on the Rakaia Incorporation, which won the trophy in 2016.
He says the farm has achieved great results in challenging conditions.
"Tawhirimatea visits Hokitika virtually every other day so they learn to farm with a rainfall of three and a half metres a year so it's going to be interesting today to see how they run those farming practices to deal with that sort of challenge with the weather and they have put on a fantastic performance and are deserving finalists in this year's competition," Mr Smiler says.
The other finalist, Onuku Maori Lands Trust in Rotorua, holds its field day next Thursday.
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