Puketapu farmer Chloe Butcher-Herries has won the Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award, beating two blokes to take the top spot.
This year’s competition focussed on sheep and beef farmers, and Butcher-Herries is assistant farm manager alongside the owner, Robert Pattullo, on Newstead Farm, a finishing farm for bulls.
The announcement was made by Charlotte Severne at the Ahuwhenua Trophy awards dinner at the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale last week.
The event was attended by over 800 people including the Ministers of Agriculture and Māori Development, other politicians and dignitaries, agribusiness leaders and whānau.
Butcher-Herries said she wasn’t expecting the win, and only entered because of the encouragement she received.
“I’ve always heard about the Ahuwhenua and what’s all involved there, but, like you just don’t back yourself enough. But all the family and my bosses do. And that’s when you know, well, If I’ve got them all supporting me, come on, give it a go. So, I did, and got the win.”
She said she was proud, honoured and humbled, but couldn’t quite find the words for how it made her feel. Her only expectations in entering were to return to her Māori roots and be appreciated for what she was doing on farm.
Butcher-Herries whakapapas back to Tainui in the Waikato but was born and bred in Napier, and spent a lot of time on her uncle’s farm growing up. She said this was what eventually led her into farming.
In future she would like to manage a bigger block with sheep and beef to widen her experience, and she’s keen to ensure she fosters the next generation of young farmers by opening up the farm gates and supporting them into farming careers in future.
“Being a farming manager and running a successful farming business, you can’t do that without good people.”
She said the best part of the job was being on the whenua and practicing kaitiakitanga, or stewardship of the environment.
“Right now, I’m sitting on one of the hills while I’m talking to you before I move a mob of bulls and it’s beautiful. You’re just overlooking the countryside and you can’t go wrong. You have your days where you are working in the rain and hail and the wind, but these beautiful days outweigh all of that. You are exposed to all elements of our environment and it’s all good.”
Talking of mobs, Newstead Farm runs 1150 Fresian bulls between April and November, finishing them at about 620 kilograms before they go to the works.
Owner Robert Pattullo said he and his wife Helen were extremely proud to support Chloe and her family at the Awards dinner. She had been with them for the last five years and more recently stepped in a leadership role, which she had excelled at. She was also learning te reo in her spare time.
“For her to come through and win the Young Māori Farmer Award has confirmed what an outstanding young person she is.
“Chloe also has time to involve herself in our local community, being active in the Ahuriri Catchment Group and keeping abreast of wider industry affairs. Her real strength is her affinity with young people who may be considering a career on the land who she mentors and supports, brings them out to the farm and encourages them to consider the huge opportunities and satisfaction of being employed in the primary sector.
“The Ahuwhenua family has gained a huge advocate in Chloe and she will contribute so much back to the wider Māori farming industry,” he said.
The two other finalists were Puhirere Te-Akainga Tamanui Tau, (Ngati Ira, Ngati Porou, Ngāpuhi), a Shepherd working on Rototahi and Puatai Stations, Whangara Farms, located near Tolaga Bay and Rameka Eli Edwards (Ngāpuhi, Waikato-Tainui), the Manager at Reon and Wendy Verry’s farms Puketitiri and Waitete, in Te Kuiti.
Next year the competition will focus on horticulture and the following year, dairy.
The Ahuwhenua Trophy is the most prestigious award for Māori agriculture, originally launched in 1933 by Sir Apirana Ngata and the Governor General at the time Lord Bledisloe. The competition was re-launched in 2003 and is now a regular feature on the farming calendar.
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Photos: John Cowpland Alphapix Photography