Maori farmers face massive cost increases as councils start rating them based on valuations done at the peak of the property boom.
A survey by Federated Farmers has found Maori coastal land is being particularly hit hard, with two Maori farms now having to pay more than $100,000 in rates.
Rangi Mitchelson, the manager of a Kaipara dairy farm on Maori trust land, says the farm's rates have doubled.
He says the valuation was influenced by other properties in the region which have been subdivided, which is not an option for the trust's 476 shareholders.
Mr Mitchelson says the farm is already struggling in the current economic climate.
