Tewi Trust Field Day
MEDIA RELEASE
12 March 2016
Great turn-out for Ahuwhenua Trophy field day
The Minister for Māori Development, Hon Te Ururoa Flavell says he was taken aback by the great turnout to a field day at the Tewi Trust farm in the South Waikato – one of three finalists for the 2016 Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award for Dairy About 300 people attended the day which featured presentations by the owners of the farm as well as a farm walk on the property where visitors were able to see some of the unique features of this dairy farm.
The farm consists of a 138 ha effective milking platform on which is run a 430 cow Friesian herd. “It was great to not only see the number of people here from the local community but also the family of Tewi Trust who came a long way to support their whānau. It’s excellent to see that so many people recognise the importance and the mana that this trophy carries. That surely tells us that this is right up there is terms of profile for Māori agriculture,” he says Minister Flavell says he congratulates anyone who puts their hat in the ring in the first place to enter the competition at this time. He says whoever wins the competition will be setting a new bar on how to run an operation. “What the competition has done is bring us all to another level and tells us that Māori are part of the bigger picture of agriculture,” he says.
The Chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee, Kingi Smiler says Tewi Trust put on a terrific field day. He says it’s a small Trust that has spent many years putting together their ancestral lands that is now in an economic block. He says in terms of benchmarking for the area and the North Island, their farm is right up there at the top. “It’s all about having good people that know the farm and these people farm this block economically – certainly it is not the same scale as Ngāi Tahu who are also a finalist. But as these business models show as long as you are generating a good net margin, which this farm is doing when prices are poor, that is certainly a testament to their capability,” he says.
The final field day will be held at the The Proprietors of Rakaia Incorporation’s farm near Ashburton on Wednesday 16th March.
The winner of the Award will be announced at a function in Hamilton on Friday 20th May.
For more information contact Peter Burke, 021 224 2184.
Photographs are free for use in relation to the competition. Visit http://alphapix.photoshelter.com/gallery/AHU16-Tewi-Trust-FieldDay/G0000UXcmMVecXXU/C0000yK5AODDitoQ or contact photographer John Cowpland 027 253 3464.
Our thanks to our valued Ahuwhenua Trophy sponsors: BNZ, DairyNZ, Ministry for Primary Industries, Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Tumu Paeroa, Fonterra, Primary ITO, AgResearch, PGG Wrightson, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, LIC, Federation of Māori Authorities, AFFCO, Allflex, BDO, Polaris, Ecolab, Landcorp, Tohu Wine and WorkSafe.
A big thanks also to sponsors of the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award: Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Tumu Paeroa, Primary ITO and Allflex.
ABOUT THE FARM
Tewi Trust Tewi Trust is situated near the small South Waikato settlement of Okoroire near Tirau. The area is famous for its hot springs and its beautiful hotel. Tewi Trust has 53 shareholders and is named after one of the original owners Tewi Hoera who passed the land on to his daughters and was leased out by them to a local farmer. When the lease came up for renewal during the second World War, the land was leased out again for 30 years. But when this expired the Trust took back one parcel of land and a year later a second parcel to form the farm but these were separated by a privately owned farm. There are two waahi tapu sites on the property.
During early 1970’s the cow shed was upgraded and general improvements made to the farm. But the Trust faced further challenges and it was decided to employ a 50/50 Sharemilker. In 1991 a small parcel of land was exchanged to physically connect the run-off to the main farm. In 2000 the Trust bought the land that the two blocks completely surrounded. Today the farm is still run by a 50/50 Sharemilker and consists of a 138ha effective milking platform on which is a 430 cow Friesian cross herd which produces 174,405 kgMS. The cows are milked in a 40 aside herringbone shed.
The farm leases 13 eff ha of support land which it uses to grow maize and to provide some winter grazing. The land is flat to rolling with some steeper slopes. The soil is Tirau Sandy Loam and is very good dairy land. The farm runs as a system two which means the cows are fed mainly grass and receive supplements such as PKE on the shoulders of the season and to cover unforeseen adverse events. Up to six hectares of turnips and four hectares of chicory are grown to protect against the summer dry. Each year about ninety tonnes of grass silage is produced – about half of this is on the main farm and the other half from the leased block. About two thirds of the maize used on the farm is grown on the lease block and the rest on farm.
Tewi Trust is a great example of how a small and determined group of whānau have, over many years of adversity and challenges achieved their dream of farming their own land successfully and profitably and have kept a strong focus on Māori values.
Media contact: Tuhi Watkinson, 07 829 7077; or Advisor Ron Watkinson, 021 049 7489
