'Zero-to-hero' couple wins coveted Māori Dairy Award
Nearly 20 years ago Dean and Kristen Nikora left their town jobs to go dairy farming – they worked their way up from farm labouring, through to share milking, working in a 50/50 partnership and owning their own farm.
Tonight, they were awarded the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy – Bank of New Zealand Māori Excellence in Farming Award – after following a wealth creation strategy judges described as "nothing short of outstanding".
Dean and Kristen Nikora are the owners of Mangatewai, a 342-hectare dairy farm near Takapau. It is one of five properties owned or leased by the company, Cesped Lands Limited. Mangatewai currently milks about 1,000 cows.
The Minister of Māori Affairs Parekura Horomia and General Manager of Agribusiness Financial Services for the Bank of New Zealand Will Purvis, presented the trophy to the couple at the Awards night dinner in Rotorua.
As well as being presented with the Ahuwhenua Trophy, Dean and Kristen Nikora also receive up to $40,000 in cash, services and farm products including a King Quad Suzuki ATV.
Chief Judge Doug Leeder said at times Dean and Kristen had "engaged in high-risk investment, but this had been accompanied by disciplined risk analysis strategies."
"Basically, their simple vision that 'every day is a growing day' has pervaded all their activities," he said.
Mr Leeder said overall Cesped was a business that had excelled in employing best practice principles across a whole range of farm activities, and results reflected this both in the farm and business performance.
The other two finalists in the competition were: the Parekarangi Trust and the Hauhungaroa Partnership.
The Parekarangi Trust farms 665 hectares of land about 10 kilometers south of Rotorua, including a 255 hectare dairy unit, a 410 hectare dry stock unit and some commercial land 10 hectares of which is to be leased to the Department of Child Youth and Family for a Youth Justice Residential Centre. The farm winters 800 cows.
The Judges said overall Parekarangi was a well governed and managed, profitable, dairy enterprise that had made significant economic progress without losing its social commitment to its beneficiaries.
The Hauhungaroa Partnership deals in sheep, beef, deer and dairy and has investments in Gourmet Mokai, Gourmet Paprika and Gourmet Blueberries all based in Hawkes Bay. Its 437-hectare Taupo-based dairy unit was the part of the operation entered in the competition. The farm milks 930 cows and last year achieved 340kg of milk solids per cow.
The Judges said overall, Hauhungaroa was a very impressive business with high levels of performance, despite working in a difficult environment.
Dean (Maniapoto and Ngati Tama) and Kristen with links to Ngati Awa say they entered the competition to help benchmark their business against other successful organisations. They wanted to get feedback from the judges and look at ways to improve their farming operation. They also wanted to demonstrate to others in Māoridom that good planning and sound strategy can deliver desired goals.
Māori dairy farmers own an estimated 100 million shares in Fonterra with some of the major players in the sector being large incorporations like the 2006 Dairy Competition winner – PKW Farms Ltd which has an estimated $50 million farming interest in Taranaki.
The Bank of New Zealand is the Platinum Sponsor for the Award. Gold sponsors are AgResearch, DairyNZ, and Fonterra. Silver sponsors are Te Puni Kōkiri, PGG Wrightson, and Ballance AgriNutrients. Bronze sponsors include the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, AgricultureITO and Suzuki. Other sponsors include Landcorp, Marae TVNZ, the Rotorua Charitable Trust/Rotorua District Council, DB Breweries, Poutama Trust, and Tohu Wines.
