Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd

2014 Dairy Finalists

Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd

Just north of the Taranaki township of Hawera, Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd runs 500 kiwi cross cows on a 170ha effective milking platform. It is a highly successful operation which is now into its fifth season and is producing 190,000 kgMS. What is so special about this operation is that it is an amalgam of four separate Māori trusts who have all combined their resources to create an economically and environmentally sustainable dairy operation.

Bringing the blocks together into one large farm marked the beginning of a new era for the 1,100 land owners and has given them an exciting vision for the future. Individually the blocks were too small to be farmed economically, but as a collective unit they are able to provide a much better financial return for their owners. As well as operating as a commercial dairy farm, Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd also runs a training operation for descendants of shareholders that whakapapa back to the land as well as other young people. This is run by Land Based Training and last year saw the first eight young people graduate and then obtain jobs on dairy farms. This year another eight young people are in training.