Taranaki's largest dairy farmer says its long term strategy to buy back control of some of its leased farms will continue this year.
Parininihi ki Waitotara Corporation (PKW) - which has 8500 Maori owners - has title to 20,000 hectares of land, the majority of which is leased.
PKW chairperson Hinerangi Raumati says the group last year invested $8 million in a 220 hectare dairy farm that was previously leased, and took over the management of another three instead of employing sharemilkers.
She says it was the corporation's biggest investment in the past five years.
Ms Raumati says PKW is keen to continue buying back farms when leases come up for renewal, as it wants to actively manage as much of its land as possible, rather than have others do it.
