Maori Farmer of the Year - Final regional winner

Media Release

Final regional winner found in Maori Farmer of the Year competition.

11th April 2005

The last regional winner in the Maori Farmer of the Year competition has been selected, with Te Aute Trust Board Farm from Central Hawkes Bay winning the Eastern Regional competition for 2005.

Maori Farmer of the Year competition chairman Bob Cottrell says the winning property was the unanimous choice of the judges.

“The judges were impressed with the clear separation of governance and management of the farm”.

“There’s a strong sense of community responsibility, this is illustrated through the good working relationship the Trust has with Te Aute College, who they lease the property from,” he said.

The farm is a 650 hectare property carrying close to 9,000 stock units, and has recently undergone an intensification programme, with the introduction of intensive beef and technology systems. The recent introduction of high fertility genetics and a terminal policy into the sheep flock has been successful.

Trust chairman, Stan Pardoe says it was an honour to have competed in the regional competition and that the Trust is looking forward to competing for the national title.

“We have a strong sense of vision and direction, we know what we want to achieve. The dedication of our staff contributed to our success in the regional competition, and this continued dedication will help us as we move forward to the national competition,” he said.

A field day will be held on the property on May 20th. The field day will give others an opportunity to see the systems management, governance and areas that contributed to the farm winning the regional title.

The national winner will be announced at the competition’s awards dinner in Rotorua on June 10th.

Tickets for the awards dinner can be purchased from Meat & Wool New Zealand. Contact Phyllis on 0800 647 000

Meat & Wool New Zealand is a major sponsor of the event along with the Bank of New Zealand, AgResearch and Te Puni Kokiri (Gold sponsors)

Williams & Kettle, Merial, Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Blue Wing Honda (Silver sponsors)

The AFFCO group, AgriQuality, Landcorp and PPCS-Richmond (Bronze sponsors)

ENDS

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