A farm that brings together the vestiges of Ngati Whatua land in the Kaipara area and another with ties to an early Anglican missionary family are among the finalists for this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy for Maori Excellence in Farming.
This year the revived competition is looking at sheep and beef farmers, with the current holder of the dairying trophy, Waipapa 9 Trust from west of Taupo, one of the finalists.
Waatea News reports that the East Coast is represented by Pakihiroa Farms, a 3000-hectare property west of Ruatoria that includes the ancestral Ngati Porou mountain, Hikurangi.
Te Runanga o Ngati Porou bought the farm from the Williams family in 1985.
The third finalist, Otakanini Topu, runs from northern Muriwai beach on Auckland's west coast to the southern end of the Kaipara Harbour.
Field days will be held on the farms over the next month, and the winner will be announced in June.
