Another great crowd came along for the field day at Tunapahore B2A Incorporation located at Hawai on the East Coast of the North Island, close to the township of Opotiki. This was last of the field days held by the finalists in the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy for Dairy.

The property consists of 400.83ha of land but the actual milking platform is 132ha on which is run 385 cows that produce 125,940 kgMS.

A special feature of the farm is that it is right on the coast and the picturesque setting drew a positive reaction from the farmers, rural professionals, agribusiness leaders and government officials who attended the day. The guests were welcomed onto the Torere Marae and later listened to presentations by the Committee of Management, advisors and farm staff. Among the speakers was the Chair of the Incorporation, Jack Mihaere.

After the presentations, visitors were taken on a farm tour where they saw many of the developments which have taken place including improvements to the pasture and the environment. They also had a chance to look at the herd.

Tunapahore Chairman, Jack Mihaere, says he had a sleepless night preparing for the field day. But he was delighted with the large turn out and was not surprised at how many people came along from all over the region.

Jack says attending a field day last year at Matapihi for a finalist of the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition for Horticulture, inspired Tunapahore to enter. He says they were thinking about entering the dairy competition, and when they saw what Ngai Tukairangi had done, they decided they would have a go.

He says they only had four days to put in their entry and are very pleased they did.

The Chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee, Kingi Smiler says the field day at Tunapahore B2A Incorporation was excellent and showed the tremendous effort the Incorporation has put into making a success of their land. He says the Committee of Management who run the operation are part of an Eastern Bay of Plenty Maori dairy cluster which is a DairyNZ/MPI initiative providing a learning network and access to resources and professional support. 

Kingi says the diversification programme being undertaken by the Incorporation shows the vision and the business acumen of Tunapahore B2A Incorporation.

Kingi says this and the field days at the other two finalist farms have done an excellent job in positively showcasing Māori agribusiness to both fellow Māori and the wider rural sector. He says Māori are often too modest about their achievements and he says its time they were outspoken about what they are doing and are planning to do. He says the agri sector in Aotearoa has much to learn from the Māori way and when they do embrace it, they will wonder why they never did it sooner.

FINALIST PROFILE

Tunapahore B2A Incorporation

Ko Kapuarangi te maunga

Ko Wainui te awa

Ko Torere-nui-a-rua te tupuna

Ko Manaakiao te wharekai

Ko Tainui te waka

Ko Hoturoa te tangata

Ko Ngai Tai te iwi

Tunapahore was originally one whole land mass located between the two coastal points of Hawai. In 1953 the Māori Land Court met and decided to split the land, hence there are now two land blocks known as Tunapahore B2A, and Tunapahore B2B.

During the 1930s–1950s Tunapahore B2) was a dairy and dry stock unit, managed by Duncan Kerr, who was married to Hera Mio of Ngāitai. When the milker died in a car accident, the management decided to sell the dairy herd, and later when Duncan Kerr died, they sold the dry stock. The land was leased to surrounding pakeha land owners.

Tunapahore B2A Incorporation was incorporated on 6th July 1959 before Ivor Prichard, Māori Land Court Judge.

The Tunapahore B2A Incorporation farm consists of 376ha located at Hawai and Tōrere on the famous State Highway 35 on the East Coast of the North Island. There is a run-off area called Section 8 comprising 10.93 effective hectares and two other leased areas, one is part of the milking platform (16.5ha) the other is leased for maize silage production (10.1ha). The milking platform is 132ha, with 385 cows producing 125,940 kgMS.

The farm was leased for a number of years for around $2,000 pa. In the early 1980s the Committee of Management (COM), along with their Farm Advisor Alistair Hall, obtained bank funding (using Hall’s own land as security) to bring the farm back under management of the Committee. It was operated as a dairy farm, originally with a Farm Manager and later for many years with 50/50 Sharemilkers. A lease of the adjacent Tawaputa Block was used to increase the milking platform. A twenty by twenty aside Herring Bone shed was built, and Mike O’Carroll from Taranaki was the first 50/50 Sharemilker, with Colin Mihaere, nephew of the current Chair as his milker.

In April 2019, the Sharemilkers decided they no longer wanted to continue farming so in a matter of weeks the COM set about purchasing a dairy herd, plant and equipment and hiring staff. This was a huge undertaking, and it shows the progressiveness of the Committee and their ability and willingness to roll up their sleeves and assist wherever necessary to get things moving.

The current Farm Manager Janet Poihipi, who has worked for a number of years on the farm under previous Sharemilkers, is regarded as an absolute asset to the Incorporation.

The success on the farm has enabled further investment opportunities:

In 1985, portions of the hill country were leased to be planted in pine forest with the coastal block harvested in 2014. Six hectares of this block was returned to the dairy platform, the remaining block left to return to native bush.  Within the forest are a number of registered archaeological sites. One area in particular boasts the remnants of a pa site which will have held up to 300 people.

Contact: Jack Mihaere, 027 413 7654 / [email protected].