4 | RURAL PEOPLE » Ahuwhenua Trophy Award 2021 Winners: Tataiwhetu Trust. Nukuhia Hadfield, Chair, Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee (Photos John Cowpland). two separate awards, each with their own trophy. Once again, Lord Bledisloe donated the companion cup. “The competition continued up until 1990s, but then interest started to wane,” Nukuhia says. “It was relaunched in 2003, and took into account the changing face of Maori farming, when Maori trusts and incorporations were coming to the fore of the agribusiness sector.” Over the years, one trophy had been destroyed by re, and one had been lost on a rail trip from Rotorua to Wellington and remained lost for a couple of years. The management committee wanted the trophies to be seen and cared for so they could generate inspiration for Maori farmers. “Farmers are practical people, and they want to be able to see things and feel things. Cedric Nepia is the Kaitiaki of the trophies, they are under his care and he chaperones them to eld days and events all around the country.” In 2005, the management committee decided to alternate the annual competition with dairy one year and sheep and beef the other. In 2012, The Young Maori Farmer Award was added to the programme, the Inaugural winner was • from page 3 E whakahī ana ki te tautoko i te Hipi me te Mīti kau Taonga Ahuwhenua 2022 Proud to support the 2022 Sheep and Beef Ahuwhenua Trophy Kia whakanuia te hiranga mahi pāmu Māori Celebrating Māori Excellence in Farming 1Ņ QJŅ NDL SŅPX 0Ņ PJŅ NDL SŅPX %\ IDUPHUV )RU IDUPHUV™ AFFCO is proud to support Ahuwhenua Trophy Award Dairy Farmer, Tangaroa Walker. The management committee again wanted to recognise the important role that Maori were playing in the horticulture sector, and so horticulture awards were introduced. The rst Ahuwhenua Excellence in Maori Horticulture and Young Maori Grower awards were held in 2020 and were won by Te Kaha B15 Hineora Orchard and Maatutaera Akonga of Hastings respectively. The Ahuwhenua Trophy competition now alternates between dairy, sheep and beef, and horticulture. The 2022 competition is for Maori sheep and beef farmers, and 2023 will be the second Horticulture Competition, while also being 90 years since the competition was inaugurated. Nukuhia says the primary sector is an everchanging thing, and the competition is evolving and changing with it, however “The legacy started by Sir Apirana Ngata and Lord Bledisloe 89 years ago is still our kaupapa today, and all of our nalists too have embraced this vision,” she says. “It’s about celebrating the success of Maori farmers and growers who are actually now industry leaders. Ahuwhenua gives them the platform to share their stories of success in their own voices to Aotearoa New Zealand.
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