Milk and honey prices among highlights for Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation

The Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation manages more than 40,000ha in seven sheep and beef and one dairy farm. Photo/ website

2017 was a year of highlights and ups and downs for the Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation, chairwoman Mavis Mullins says.

The incorporation's annual meeting was at Whanganui Racecourse on December 8, with 700 shareholders and their whanau packing out the Eulogy Lounge and enjoying a meal together afterward.

Highlights from the year include the blessing of the house at the new Awhiwhenua Farm Training School and good prices for both milk and honey.

The incorporation manages 41,652ha, mainly in the Waimarino. This year its farm and forestry ventures earned $19.3 million in total, giving a net surplus of $2 million.

The dividend for shareholders was 55 cents, the same amount as last year.

The incorporation has a board of six. This year shareholders elected Rawiri Tinirau to replace Toni Waho, and they voted to keep Che Wilson on.

The board has benefited from having an associate and an independent director also on board, Mrs Mullins said.

The wet spring of 2017 caused a few headaches, chief executive Andrew Beijeman said. Dairy production was down but the milk price was better. At Te Hou Farms, owned in a three-way partnership, the dairy effluent system was upgraded and irrigation was extended to dry stock areas.

The incorporation is well prepared for the coming dry season, Mr Beijeman said. It runs a 12 monthly feed budget, had lambs weaned early and delayed buying more stock.

"Making lots of small steps and starting early is much easier than taking one big step once things are much worse."

On the environment front, 10km of fencing have been done this year, to protect 7km of stream and 1000ha of native bush.

This year seven students graduated with Level 3 and 4 skills from the incorporation's farm training school at Te Pa Station. A student from last year, Dylan Ruki-Fowlie, was a finalist in the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer contest. Next year six students will be starting year one, with three more continuing their second year.

The honey side of the business continues to grow. In 2017 the incorporation had 1200 of its own hives and doubled its beekeeping team to four. It still has Watson and Son hives on its land, and the total harvest was 80,000kg of honey, generating $2.7 million of revenue.

Next year the number of owned hives is to double, and Mr Beijeman has a goal of more than 5000 owned hives eventually.

The incorporation's Te Ati Hau Trust was set up to distribute some of the gains. It had $340,000 to give out in grants last year. Most of it, $265,000, went into 416 education grants. The rest went to a range of other causes - sport, culture, art and marae.