Te Roroa Group

PGW’s Māori Agribusiness team is a dedicated unit within PGW providing guidance on farming practices that align with the environmental values of our Māori agribusiness clients.  Our dedicated Iwi Relationship Managers liaise with our Māori agribusiness clients and the team engages with PGW colleagues across the Company to ensure technical expertise and industry knowledge are provided.

PGW regularly hosts Māori agribusiness hīkoi where Māori agribusiness clients have the opportunity to visit other Māori agribusinesses.  The team networks with numerous government and farmer-owned primary industry participants to ensure engagement with industry stakeholders and strongly represent Māori agribusiness.  PGW is also a proud sponsor of the Ahuwhenua Trophy, Te Puni Kōkiri Excellence in Māori Farming and Horticulture Award, which acknowledges and celebrates Māori agricultural and horticultural excellence. 

Te Roroa Farm Development Limited, whose rohe stretches along the West Coast of the North Island from the Hokianga to Tokatoka in the Kaipara, is an established client of PGW.  Te Roroa exists to provide better opportunities for whānau with sustainability as a priority through land, water, kiwi restoration projects, and being part of the Kauri die back response in the Waipoua forest.

The Te Roroa Group is growing and currently has four individual entities.  Te Roroa Farms comprises seven separate farms which were originally leased out for several years.  The farms are now run as one operation consisting of approximately 3,200 hectares.

PGW’s Iwi Relationship Manager, Ron Walters, has been working with Te Kaiwhakahaere Matua/The General Manager, Taoho (Snow) Tane of the Te Roroa Commercial Development Group.  Ron’s aim is to “partner with iwi to overcome some of the unique challenges faced when developing their primary sector assets.  An essential component of my work is developing and sustaining mutually beneficial relationships between Māori and PGW, while helping to unlock the potential of the whenua/land and how we can better work with and assist Māori and iwi.”

Snow’s role is to lead the development and implementation of the Group’s strategies while supporting the Chairman, Kaumātua, and the Team Leaders.  Ron and Snow connect once a month to discuss kaupapa, tikanga Māori, and farming practices and development.

Ron works closely with Mark Bradley, PGW Technical Field Representative.  Technical Field Representatives assist customers to grow value by providing technical support, in depth product knowledge, and expert advice.  Mark’s experience and broad knowledge within the agricultural industry gains him the trust and respect of his clients.  Mark gives detailed presentations relating to farm practices alongside Duanne Golley, Te Roroa Beef Farms Kaiwhakahaere/Manager, which are well received by Te Roroa.

Duanne appreciates that Te Roroa benefits from the breadth and depth of PGW.  Duanne says “we used to engage an independent fertiliser consultant.  Mark made good use of one of the many resources and expertise within PGW and introduced a Technical Specialist soil scientist who was able to design a sustainable fertiliser programme that gave Te Roroa better utilisation.  The results have certainly paid dividends by getting a better response to the fertiliser as well as lifting productivity, so we transferred the whole programme to PGW.”

Snow enjoys “partnering with PGW as they have provided a lot of support to our farms, especially when we regained our farms and we needed to stock them.  The relationship with PGW works well, with Ron and I discussing governance which focuses on our people, future generations, and caring for the land, while Duanne and Mark’s relationship is around farm systems and a trusted advisory role.” 

 

Working with PGW

Ron Walters joined PGW’s Māori Agribusiness team over three years ago as the Iwi Relationship Manager covering the Te Tai Tokerau rohe.  Ron engages with his colleagues across the Company to ensure technical expertise and industry knowledge is provided to our clients through our trusted experts in the field. What Ron loves most about working for PGW is the “diversity of expertise within the Company that we have to offer our valued clients.”

Mark Bradley is a Technical Field Representative based in Dargaville, servicing customers across the Kaipara area.  Mark joined PGW 13 years ago and enjoys contributing to his customers by delivering a high level of on-farm and off-farm technical support across the wide range of farming business groups.  Mark is one of our more than 100 experienced Technical Field Representatives nationally.