Trial looks at putting whenua first

• Published date: 01 December 2022

The 200ha Mangatea farm is owned by Tainui Group Holdings and is milking 580 cows. TGH owns over 4000 hectares of Waikato land that supports dairy, sheep, beef, and forestry operations on behalf of its tribal owners

Mangatea is among 10 Waikato and Bay of Plenty farms entering a new era through a $2.7 million trial called Rere ki Uta Rere ki Tai.

A science-based research project, it merges indigenous knowledge and regenerative agriculture principles to test if soil and waterway health can be improved, while maintaining profitable dairy farming.

The whenua, the land, is the life blood of the people, says Ngāti Wairere kaumatua George Hopa, who embraced the trial at Mangatea farm.

“It feeds us, it takes care of us, without the whenua we wouldn’t survive, none of us. I’m looking at it from a global way, and with farming, that’s what it still means to me.”

Hopa has lived on the whenua all his life and is a recipient of the Ahuwhenua Trophy for excellence in Māori farming,

He says the land and river here was rich in resources — birds, plentiful freshwater aqua life, fertile soil and clean waters.

“In the Mangatea, there was the tuna, there was the koura, there was the kōkopu and all the aqua life that lived there. We are fortunate that they are still there today. Even I, three weeks ago, had a smoked tuna so we are fortunate that our awa, our river, the Mangatea, still provides … it’s like a market garden.

“The whenua, the land, is the life blood of our people.

“I think it’s up to everybody to make sure that they look after their waters, the waterway. It doesn’t matter where you are, whether you turn the tap on in Auckland and let it go to waste. It’s the life force, the water, and the whenua.”

At the heart of Rere ki uta Rere ki Tai is the mana and mauri of the soil.

Research aims to find out whether using farming methods that move away from synthetic fertiliser and sewing a more diverse pasture crop among other changes leads to more resilient, profitable farms that better withstand environmental, societal and regulatory pressure.

The health of the soil, of waterways on farms and the wellbeing of farmers themselves will be monitored over two years, as will the costs or savings of replacing synthetic fertiliser with seaweed-based biostimulants in some areas on farm.

The project is led by AgriSea, a seaweed innovation company in Paeroa in the Hauraki.

Mozz Trueman is implementing the changes on the ground after consulting with manawhenua about aspirations as...