The South Island's first Ahuwhenua Trophy Excellence in Maoria dairy farming is celebrated by Rakaia Incorporation board chairman James Russell at the awards in Hamilton last weekend.
History was made at the BNZ Ahuwhenua Maori Excellence in Farming Awards last week when the South Island claimed the award for dairying for the first time in 83 years of the competition.
Rakaia Incorporation's triumph was also the first time any farm in the South Island - dairy, sheep
and beef - had won the trophy in at least 13 years, and the success was made all the more sweeter with another South Island farmer, West Coaster Jack Raharuhi, g named Young Maori Farmer of the Year in dairying.
The awards were presented at a gala dinner attended by about 850 people in Hamilton and effectively ended the year of triumph for Hawke's Bay, which claimed both awards in 2015 when the focus was on sheep and beef farming. There were no Hawke's Bay finalists this year.
The winning trust farms about 830 Kiwi-cross cow on the 216 hectares Tahu a Tao, a property near Ashburton with a farming history dating back more than 130 years along the southern banks of the Rakaia River.
The announcement was made by Minister for Mori Development Te Ururoa Flavell, ending the winning hopes of other finalists Canterbury-based Ngi Tahu Farming Limited and South Waikato operation Tewi Trust.
