Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award 2021 Finalists

Ina te maunga whakahi, he mana nui,

Ina te kaipiki, he mana rangatira.

Ki a koutou kua eke ki te taumata o tenei tohu, ko te reo whakamihi tenei o Te Tumu Paeroa e tukuna atu ana i runga i nga hau mahana o whakahihi.

Tena koutou katoa.

We are once again proud to sponsor the 2021 Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmers Award. An award that supports and recognises our rangatahi who strive to become future leaders in the dairy industry.

This year's finalists in the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer of the Year award are:

Anahera Hale

Anahera is the 2IC farm assistant on Rod and Jacquie McPherson’s 100 hectares (94 effective) dairy farm near Whakatane where they run between 340/345 cows and winter about 360 cows. The farm is system two where cows are just fed grass and get topped up either with silage or palm kernel.

Quinn Morgan

Quinn is very new to the dairy industry and is in his first season of farming working as a Farm Assistant for Sam and Kate Moore on their 155ha farm in Otakiri near Whakatane. They milk 570 cross breed cows through a 36 aside shed and are on system three.

Ben Purua

Ben is currently working as the 2IC for a contract milker at Trinity Lands farm, a 307ha (287 effective) property near Tokaroa in the South Waikato which runs 900 cows.

Judge Aaron Hunt says the standard of entrants in the competition was very high and reflects the number of young Māori who are making successful careers in the dairy sector.

“The sector has natural appeal to young Māori because it offers an outdoor lifestyle and a significant career path. It is also good for those with young families and allows them to have a supportive environment in which to work. The judging panel found all the entrants passionate about the industry and enthusiastic about their future prospects,” he says.

The Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee Chairman, Kingi Smiler, says it is great to see another cohort of young Māori from the dairy industry entering this event. He says the Young Māori Farmer competition is very important both for Māori and the dairy sector because it helps foster a new group of potential leaders and role models for the future.

Since the award was inaugurated it has proven to be very popular and has attracted high quality entrants, many of whom have gone on to take leadership roles in the wider agri-sector.

For more details see Ahuwhenua Trophy website - here.

Photo credit: Alphapix