On the dry, coastal lands of Purerua Peninsula, the farms totalling 620ha struggle to make a return for the Maori owners because of the size of paddocks and unimproved pastures.
Annual losses on the balance sheet resulted in no funds to maintain the whenua or do capital development.
Tapuaetahi chairman Kipa Munro said the money will be mostly spent this year on subdivision and waterway fencing, erosion zone protection, fertiliser and pasture renovation.
Ryegrass and clovers will be incorporated in the kikuyu-dominant pastures.
Local suppliers and contractors will be used along with two young people especially employed for the work, who will also be mentored and trained in farm management.
“Improved farm productivity will lead to better quality finished cattle.
“This will lead to greater returns for our 365 shareholders, for whom it can make a real difference.”
Tapuaetahi is a shareholder and supplier for First Light Foods that breeds and finishes Wagyu-Angus cattle for local and international markets.
As an incorporation it dates back to 1965 when the original owners amalgamated three blocks to stop the land being lost through the local authority rating scheme.
Executive manager Marioa Hohaia said the aims are to finish the progeny of Angus breeding cows in 24 to 28 months and expand the breeding herd from 150 to 200.
Development plans go back three years with the support of the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Federation of Maori Authorities.
Waikato farm consultant Peter Keeling was contracted because of his knowledge of Wagyu-cross farming.
MPI offered the expertise of Murray Jamieson, the former dairy equity partner in Okaihau Pastoral, and Don McColl represented FOMA.
Purerua farmer Robert Stirling also represented the Tapuaetahi board along with Hohaia and Glen Hobbs, who was farm manager then.
“The team worked over about eight months to assess what was required, the needs of the farms and what order things might happen in,” Hohaia said.
Incorporating a neighbouring run-down block acquired in 2015, the PGF project will result in 16km of waterways being fenced and cattle excluded from the native bush areas.
The Tapuaetahi grant was one of two PGF announcements for Northland farming by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones in mid May.
The second was for $658,000 to be applied to Okaroro Incorporation’s Whenua Whakatupuranga Project for necessary infrastructure on 1496ha of remote stock land to increase productivity and livestock numbers.
The work on the farm includes fencing, a road upgrade and riparian planting of 14km of waterways to protect water quality, control erosion and protect stock.
Okaroro is in the Maromaku area in the hilly centre of Northland south of Kawakawa.
The latest announcements were additional to $6.4 million of Whenua Maori funds to Northland landowners.
The PGF’s Whenua Maori fund was announced in February 2019 to invest up to $100m in investment-ready projects to unlock the economic potential of Maori land.
The fund has allocated $33m so far.
“For Maori landowners access to capital is challenging as the special status of their land means commercial banks are less willing to lend to them,” Jones said.
