Entries are open for the Ahuwhenua Trophy, which will focus on sheep and beef farmers in 2025.
The competition is open to individual Māori farmers along with trusts and other entities around Aotearoa New Zealand.
The most prestigious agricultural competition in Aotearoa, it was inaugurated in 1933 by the then governor general, Lord Bledisloe, and one of te ao Māori’s greatest leaders, Sir Apirana Ngata.
The objective then, and still is, to foster the growth and development of Māori in livestock farming and horticulture.
The announcement heralding the start of the competition was made at the annual conference of the New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management (NZIPIM) in Hamilton.
Speaking to the large gathering of rural professionals, chair of the Ahuwhenua Trophy management committee Nukuhia Hadfield said it is very appropriate that the 2025 competition was launched at the NZIPIM conference.
She said rural professionals play a significant role in the development of Māori farming in Aotearoa. She urged rural professionals to promote the competition and to encourage Māori sheep and beef farmers to enter, saying they also stand to gain from having an innovative and successful Māori agribusiness sector.
Hadfield and her husband Bart are previous winners of the Ahuwhenua competition for sheep and beef and she said just having been entrants, let alone winners, had been hugely beneficial to them as farmers.
“As part of the judging process, each farm is carefully evaluated by an experienced team of rural professionals and as part of the process they offer insightful comments that will benefit the owners. We certainly found this to be the case and others who have entered the competition have said the same thing,” she said.
Hadfield said the competition is an opportunity for Māori to showcase the excellence of their sheep and beef farming operations. Māori farming makes a significant contribution to the country’s economy, with Māori contributing to more than 15% of the total earnings of the sheep and beef sector.
Jo Finer, the CEO of NZIPIM, said her organisation was delighted to host the launch of the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition for 2025.
She said the goals of the competition align well with the aspirations of the NZIPIM, where in the Māori Agribusiness conference session they seek to share the insights and initiatives from the industry experts they collaborate with.
Initial judging of entrants will take place early in the new year, with the eventual finalists announced at Parliament in late February.
The finalists then stage field days at their respective farms during late March and early April. The winner of the competition will be announced at an awards dinner on Friday, June 6, 2025 in Palmerston North.
For more information visit: www.ahuwhenuatrophy.maori.nz
