Pah Hill Station – strong land, strong people

Ten years ago Pah Hill Station almost became a hydro lake as part of a King Country Energy project. Fortuitously the project was abandoned and, this year the station is the Southern Regional winner in the Maori Excellence in Farming Award.

Situated 15 kilometres southwest of Ohakune, Pah Hill Station is part of the Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation (AWhI).

Former General Manager of AWhI Dana Blackburn says the tupuna of AWhI shareholders lived around Karioi in the summer and migrated back to the Whanganui River in the winter. He says the station was part of an original Maori walking track from Ranana on the Whanganui River to Karioi. It is located near marae at Ngamokai and Tirorangi and sits beneath the historic Te Ranga-a-Kauika Pa site, which is known to house a number of urupa. The site was a principal historical settlement for Ngati Rangi, the main iwi of the area, to which most Whanganui iwi connect. Two streams run through the property providing a constant natural water supply.

Like the other ten properties in Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation, Pah Hill station is on land that was incorporated by the Maori owners in the late 1960s. Most of its land was leased out at that time. In the late 1980s the Committee of Management governing AWhI adopted a development strategy to resume the leased lands and run them itself.

Dana Blackburn says for as long as he can remember the station was leased and managed by the Duigan family. In 1990, when the lease expired, AWhI paid out the family as part of its strategy and resumed farming the land. It required a lot of attention and the Incorporation has allocated resources on an annual basis to bring the station up to the standard it is now in. He describes the land as “strong country,” that’s naturally fertile and has always had potential.

The 1900 ha (effective) sheep and beef farm comprises flats, easy rolling country and some steeper hill country and farms 20,800 stock units. Farm Manager Larry Walker says he’s very pleased with the win, even though there’s a lot of work to do before the station hosts the first regional field day for the Award on Thursday May 3.

“It’s great for the management and shareholders of Atihau-Whanganui – they’ve been very generous in allowing us to develop the property. It’s taken a long time for them to get to where they are now and they’re naturally very proud,” he says,

Larry has farmed in the Rangitikei for most of his working life and has been managing Pah Hill Station for the past two and a half years.

He says in his short time managing Pah Hill he’s seen “great deveopments” on the station. These include a big fencing programme – sub-dividing paddocks with about 15 kilometers of electric fencing, as well as erecting conventional fencing around the wool shed. It has also undertaken big spraying and re-grassing programmes and expects to continue both “until the job is done.”

Pah Hill Station employs two other permanent staff as well as Larry and brings in outside labour when required.

The station has retired large areas of bush for regeneration under a Department of Conservation Ngawhenua Rahui covenant.

On May 3, when the station hosts the Regional Field Day, Chairman of Atihau-Whanganui Whatarangi, Murphy-Peehi will be presented with a distinctive medal and a prize valued at over $15,000 comprising farm goods, services and cash.

A fantastic accolade, for the iwi and whanau who have been working to reclaim and farm their own land for the past 104 years. Tino Pai.

ENDS

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