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Roku Mihinui - Accepts the 2012 Ahuwhenua Trophy for Māori Excellence in Dairy farming

ABOUT KAPENGA M TRUST

Kapenga M Trust wins 2012 Ahuwhenua Trophy for Māori Excellence in Dairy farming

Tiwha tiwha te Po

Tiwha tiwha te Ao

Ka tu te tai i tu o Rehua

Ka rongo i turia te mata hou

Ka tu te ihi ihi

Ka tu te wana wana

Tihei wa Mauri Ora!

E nga uri o Tuhourangi i tae a tinana mai ki tenei o tatou Hui a Tau 

Ka nui te mihi ka nui te koa hei kitea ou koutou kanohi ora

No reira tena koutou

All trustees have committed to a proactive involvement in ensuring we maximise the opportunities that have been presented over the past year without putting at risk the core nature of the business.

 

As stated last year this underpins our approach to our business operations and our deliberations are based on three key principles that are reflected in our overarching strategic document:

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1. The health and wellbeing of our beneficiaries

2. The health and wellbeing of our whenua and

3. The health and wellbeing of our staff 

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We have been very proactive in seeking investment opportunities both within and outside our identified core businesses and we made a conscious decision to upgrade our commercial buildings in town on the corner of Haupapa and Amohia streets.

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We now have long term tenants in one of the buildings and are looking at bringing the other part up to the required earthquake standards with a view to have it fully tenanted.

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We have also terminated Arataki Honey’s contract to place their bee hives on Kapenga and have entered into an agreement with Tuhoe Tuawhenua Trust to replace Arataki.  

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The Trust is also work with two other parties to get into the honey industry.  The concept is to start small and collect honey of our lands but the vision is to own the full value chain of our product.  This is still in the confidential stage of development and we have agreed to incrementally negotiate and to develop our participation in the honey industry.

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Last year I advised that the other significant project we had embarked on was the review of the lease to DOC for the Kapenga Swamp and how we can work with a number of other agencies and organisations who do/could have an interest in the wetlands toward a possible joint venture that would maintain and improve this particular taonga.

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While this is still a work in progress it has been slowed down by the internal restructuring of DOC however this will be a key focus area next year particularly as we look to include manuka planting in this area. 

For various reasons we have seen a greater than usual turnover in staff on the farms and while we wish those who have left us all the best for their future we welcome the new people and their respective experiences and expertise. 

Kapenga M Trust - 2016

This year we experienced extreme weather conditions on the farms that challenged our staff to maintain some equilibrium between operations and productivity. 

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Add to that the almost equally volatile produce prices and it was no wonder there was variable fluctuations in earnings across our core businesses.

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Overall Kapenga M and Karapiti have ‘weathered the storm’ and while production was below previous years, it was still ahead of the comparative averages for operations of a similar size. 

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I want to take this opportunity to thank Lee Matheson and the farm managers and their teams, Dave and Pauline, Eddie, Shane and Kylie for tightening their belts and coming up with the goods.

We now look forward to next year to consolidate and grow some of the opportunities we have identified and invested in.

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 “Whaia te orange mo nga whakatipuranga o Kapenga M”