The winner of the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy for the top Māori sheep and beef farm is Wi Pere Trust, a large sheep and beef farming operation at Te Karaka, near Gisborne.

The Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor announced their success at the Ahuwhenua Trophy awards dinner in the Hawke’s Bay attended by over 800 people. Guests included the Hon Willie Jackson, Hon Meka Whaitiri, Sir Tumu and Lady Susan Te Heuheu, representatives of Kiingi Tuheitia, along with diplomats, other representatives of central and local government, agribusiness leaders and whānau from all the finalists.
 
As the Minister announced the winner there were scenes of great jubilation as Wi Pere Trust whānau came on stage to join in the celebrations to receive the coveted Ahuwhenua Trophy. Minister O’Connor presented the trophy to Wi Pere Trustee, Trudy Meredith.

Minister O’Connor congratulated all the finalists and winners in both the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition and the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer award. He told the gathering that Māori account for 25% of the production of sheep beef and wool and have brought a highly professional approach to their farming operations. He says as Māori develop their land further it will lead to the creation of even bigger enterprises. Minister O’Connor encourages everyone to go along to the Ahuwhenua Trophy field days to better understand the complexity of the farms and passion of the farmers.
 
Trudy Meredith of Wi Pere Trust says winning the Ahuwhenua Trophy was absolutely amazing – especially given this was the first time they had entered the competition. She says winning the competition will make people recognise the excellence that Wi Pere Trust strive for and the high standard of their operations, and how as a Trust they look after people. “It’s not all about profit – and although it does help, it’s not the be all. This has also set the bar for the next lot of trustees,” she says.

Nukuhia Hadfield, Chair of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee, says the farms of all of the finalists were impressive and the judges had their work cut out for them to come up with a winner. She says despite a challenging year, all of the finalist field days were excellent and each organisation is a great role model for farmers.
 
“But in the end Wi Pere Trust has been judged the winner. They are very worthy winners and for those of us who took the opportunity to attend their field day will see why. Wi Pere Trust runs an outstanding farming operation and measures up well in all the other criteria that are part of the judging process,” she says. Nukuhia Hadfield says this competition has once again demonstrated the strength and excellence of Māori farming.
 
The other finalists were: Onuku Māori Lands Trust located near Rotorua; and Hereheretau Station located in Whakakī, Wairoa.
 
The Ahuwhenua Trophy is the most prestigious award for excellence in Māori farming and was inaugurated 89 years ago by the great Māori leader, Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time, Lord Bledisloe. The objective was and still is to encourage Māori farmers to improve their land and their overall farming position with an emphasis on sustainability. On a three year rotational basis, the Trophy is competed for by Māori in the sheep and beef, horticulture, and dairy sectors.

More details are at www.ahuwhenuatrophy.Māori.nz. Media can contact Peter Burke: 021 224 2183 / [email protected].

The result is also a celebration for PGG Wrightson as Wi Pere Trust is a customer and Gisborne based TFR, Jamie Yates, has worked with the Trust for 26 years.  Congratulations to Jamie and the rest of the Gisborne team who work with the Trust.

Wi Pere Trust Profile

Te Karaka, Gisborne

Created in 1899 by an Act of Parliament, the Wi Pere Trust was established by their tīpuna Wi Pere to protect the remaining lands of their whanau at a time when the whenua was heavily in debt, from being sold under mortgagee sale. It was a time of great turmoil regarding the retention of Māori land and throughout his lifetime and as a MP for Eastern Māori from 1884-1887 and 1894-1905, Wi Pere championed the retention of Māori land to be controlled and developed by Māori. Wi Pere was also responsible for forming the first Māori Incorporation, Mangatu Incorporation through the 1893 Mangatu Empowering Act.

Today, 123 years later, the Wi Pere Trust continues to thrive under the stewardship of his mokopuna, Alan Haronga (Chair), Kingi Smiler, Trudy Meredith, Hector Pere and Jason Lardelli. Their vision, which guides their strategic decisions is to nurture the Wi Pere legacy for current and future generations with the overarching philosophy of kaitiakitanga.

The Trust continues today as a statutory trust which was amended in 2017 to modernise the Trust constitution and to remove the power of the Minister for Māori Development to appoint Trustees. Trustees are now appointed by the 550 owners who represent a wider whanau base who whakapapa to Te Aitanga a Mahaki and Te Whanau a Kai.

Located in Gisborne, Wi Pere Farms consists of 6,770ha with 4,900 effective ha, which consist of two blocks, Otara at Whatatutu and Tangihanga at Waituhi. The land blocks carry 51,000 stock units comprising 32,400 sheep and 4600 cattle. The farm is managed by General Manager Tim Rhodes, with fifteen full-time staff. Wi Pere Farms are classified as North Island steep hard hill country.

The Trust have developed comprehensive Land Environment Plans to guide how to best utilise the land including the retirement of erosion prone land, fencing all waterways approximately 35 kilometres, riparian planting and improving water quality. Wi Pere produces approximately 1,100,000kg of meat and fibre annually and optimises product returns by selling via a Māori Collective Cluster, Awhina to the Alliance Group. 

Community activities include supporting Te Rongopai Marae at Waituhi which is considered unique as one of the few painted meeting houses in Aotearoa.

The Chairman of the Trust has taken an active leadership role with the Tairawhiti Whenua Group representing approximately 42 land blocks covering 143,000ha of Māori land, who are engaging with local and central government on freshwater reforms and climate change.

All these activities are vital in achieving our long term sustainable, environmental, social and financial goals.
 
Contact: Tim Rhodes, 027 272 5421, [email protected]