Matariki: How the Māori lunar calendar guides sustainable farming practices

Mozz Trueman says introducing Maramataka into farming gives him a better understanding of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

As Aotearoa celebrates Matariki weekend, it is a good time to look at how Māori farmers used the Maramataka, the lunar year, to guide farming practices. The Matariki hākari (feast) is the time to celebrate the kai that comes from the land of Kiwi farms.

Like most farmers deep in their careers, Mozz Trueman was guided by Western farming practices.

To plant seeds, crops and grass all around Labour weekend in October was the done thing.

Those crops were mostly rye grass and clover, nothing more and nothing less.

As time went on and he was employed by Wairarapa Moana, iwi-owned Tainui Holdings, and Ngāi Tahu in the South Island, he began to learn that the methods used by his Māori ancestors were science-based and proven to work well.

“I think Westernised ways that most of us came through the farm system are just how it’s always been,” he said.

“I think introducing Maramataka into farming gives you a better understanding of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

“When to sow, when the moon is at a certain phase.

“You get a better understanding of when all the moisture in the ground is being drawn to the surface.

“I think that is more aligned with farming rather than putting a Labour weekend date on it.

“I always thought because it was a long weekend, everyone would put their crops in and have a beer after it, that was probably the importance of that date.”

Maramataka is the Māori lunar calendar.

It’s a system used to mark time based on the cycles of the moon, traditionally used to guide planting, harvesting, fishing and hunting.

The word “Maramataka” translates to “moon rotating” or “moon turning”.

The Maramataka is deeply connected to the environment, particularly the ocean and its tides, as the moon influences them.

Each iwi can have different names and days in the lunar calendar, but one thing in common is that the appearance of the Matariki cluster of stars is a significant event in the Maramataka, marking the Māori New Year.

When Trueman was employed at Tainui Holdings in Waikato he began to grasp the concept of Maramataka and farming.

Research found that Māori farmers were also planting diverse crops together as opposed to mono crops, which need more fertiliser and attention.

“We researched back into 150 years ago when Māori used to grow crops up north.

“If they did corn, they would grow maybe kūmara in the middle row and so on.

“There were multi species growing together because they all had elements that complemented each other.”

“Māori farmers understood that there were different elements in each vegetable that complemented each other, so they used to grow them together.”

Trueman has the data to prove it; his milk production on the dairy farm at the time lifted from 550 cows producing 196,000 milk solids to 480 cows producing 210,000.

“It gave the cows options on what they felt was important for them to eat that day.”

Trueman said these Māori kaitiaki (custodians) of the land had worked out a method to have the crops replenish one another.

In 1967, George Hopa won the Ahuwhenua Trophy, New Zealand’s oldest and most prestigious farming competition. His research into the early farming practices of Aotearoa was influential.

Trueman said he can vouch for the research, as previously his feed would die off within three years because of hot summers and the only way to save them was heavy fertiliser and watering.

He began to sow legumes, lucerne, rye grass, ecotain, red clover and two types of white clover, and they each thrived alongside one another with no chemical help.

This is because the qualities and elements vary between each seed and plant.

For example, clover fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, lucerne has a deep root to get water and ecotain has 66% less nitrate than other feed.

Māori still represent a significant and growing part of the red meat industry – nearly 40% of New Zealand’s meat processing workforce and more than 15% of sheep and beef exports come from Māori farming interests.

Trueman manages 26 public parks owned by Auckland Council that range in size from 50 to 300ha, including Shakespeare Regional Park, Ambury Park and Manukau Airport.

All up, they farm 400 Herefords and 6000 sheep.

“All public parks are open to the community, walking tracks, the public can take their dogs there, there is mountain biking there and the public can mingle with the animals,” he said.

“They are the owners, they are the ratepayers.”

These parks and animals also play an important role in saving the council millions on mowing the grass and upkeep.

Having only been in the role for eight months, he is yet to get his feet under the desk and start sowing various crops but plans to bring the Maramataka approach to the council whenua (land).

“This way of farming or growing was done hundreds of years ago.

“Why has it taken us another 100 years to do the full circle?”