ANNUAL AWARDS MADE TO MAORI DAIRY FARMERS

Te Ao Hou, March 1959, Page 19

ANNUAL AWARDS MADE TO MAORI DAIRY FARMERS The winner for 1958 of the Ahuwhenua dairy farming trophy, competed for annually by Maori farmers under the control of the Department of Maori Affairs, was Mr T. Haeata of Mangakino. Second place was gained by Mr W. J. Swinton of Whangamata, Thames district, who gained fourth place in the 1957 competition. Mr J. Peterson of Mangonui, North Auckland, was placed third. The Ahuwhenua trophy — a magnificent silver cup—was given in 1932 by the then Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, as an incentive to better farming of newly developed Maori lands. Again in 1953, when the difficulty of judging between the merits of the different types of farming such as dairy farming, sheep farming and mixed farming was brought to his notice, Lord Bledisloe generously gave a replica of the original cup so that the competition could be run in two sections—one for dairy farming and one for sheep and cattle farming. Unfortunately, on account of the lack of suitable Maori settlers who were willing to accept nomination in the sheep and cattle section, only the dairy farming section of the competition was run. The judge of the competition was Mr A. V. Allo, Instructor in Agriculture, Tauranga. In his report Mr Allo commented that the competitors were doing a fine job on their properties. The winner, Mr Haeata of Mangakino, was settled some five years ago on a property of 133 acres which was formerly part of the Pouakani Development Scheme. Since he took over the farm Mr Haeata has provided a number of excellent shelter belts, all of which have been well fenced from stock. The farm carried a first class Jersey herd in excellent condition. The house is extremely neat and well laid out in lawns and courts, with all buildings in excellent order. The second place-getter, Mr Swinton, of Whangamata, is an ex-serviceman of the Second World War who is farming a property of 108 acres, 80 acres of which are used for dairying, the balance carrying some sheep. Mr Swinton has proved a keen and energetic farmer with up-to-date ideas and prepared to make considerable personal sacrifices for the sake of his farm. Since he was settled five and a half years ago, he has carried out a sound programme of further improvements to water supply, planting fencing lines with barberry and other worthwhile improvements. Mr J. Peterson, of Mangonui, who was third, actually has the smallest farm of the 14 entered in the competition. Mr Peterson has transformed his 50 acres from a run-down, uneconomic unit into one that is yielding a good living and is a credit to any man. All the buildings, fencing, water supply and many other improvements have been constructed by Mr Peterson himself and the work carried out to date is a remarkable achievement.