April 04, 2018
West Coast dairy farm puts best face forward
The Proprietors of Mawhera Incorporation will tomorrow put on a show of dairy farming expertise.
It's holding a field day at its 384 hectare Mawhera Tuatahi Farm in the Ahuriri Valley near Hokitika to peress its claims for the Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori Excellence in Farming.
It's been farming since 1994, when it started buying back leases on land that had been kept out of its hands for the previous century by the workings of the Maori Reserved Land Act, which leased the land to Pakeha farmers for peppercorn rentals.
The incorporation farms the land on a 50:50 sharemilking arrangement with Mark and Debbie Van Beek, who joined the farm in 2006.
The other finalist, Onuku Maori Lands Trust in Rotorua, will hold its field day on April 12.
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