“We thought artificial fertiliser would fix the soil,” explains dairy farmer Miah Smith of Atiamuri, “not knowing anything about the biology and no-one had taught us from 20 years of dairy farming, we were pretty much at a loss for about three or four years.” Wilith Farm is a forestry conversion that had been farmed […]
As many farmers, growers and communities carry the weight of catastrophic weather events in January and Cyclone Gabrielle in February, an important question emerges. How we can assist farmers in their essential work to feed us, while honouring Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) through land use that does not leave the whenua, and therefore ourselves, vulnerable? In
The Country, NZ Herald, Rere ki uta rere Ki Tai Farming Research Project Focuses on Soil Read More »
Building more resilient, profitable, and healthier farms is the goal of a new project, Rere ki Uta Rere ki Tai, that\’s strengthening farmers\’ connection with the soil through sharing knowledge, experience, and science. Ten farms across the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions are working closely with researchers and will continue this through to mid
Enrich Magazine ‘Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai: From Sea to Soil to Society’ Read More »
Stanfred Farm is on Puhunga Island Rd, a farm that was known as “Davey Bros Farm” for 100 years. It is farmed by Warrick Davey after the death of Warrick’s brother Selwyn in 2020. Now it is co-owned by family members Carol Davey and Warrick Davey. In living memory, the soil has suffered unimaginable
A \’lazy way of farming\’ is how Mohi Beckham describes the changes he and his team have made on Scylla Farm. But farming is never lazy. And Mohi just needed to make changes for his mental health. A big part of our dedicated research is how farmers\’ own mental wellbeing relates to healthy soils.
“It feeds us, it takes care of us, without the whenua we wouldn’t survive, none of us. I’m looking at it from a global way, and with farming, that’s what it still means to me.” These are the words of George Hopa an Ahuwhenua Trophy winner, the highest accolade in Maori Farming, talking about oneone,
Tainui Group Holdings: A Vision for the Whenua Read More »
Out on Mohi Beckham’s farm we witnessed a style of farming that puts animals, people and the mana and health of the soil ahead of a focus on profit. It hasn’t been easy for Mohi to go down this path, yet the diversity of life in the pasture species, and the glistening coat of his
On farm with Mohi Beckham Read More »
Three place-based projects have been awarded funding as part of the Revitalise Te Taiao research programme. Paeroa-based Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai, a project led by AgriSea New Zealand, has been allocated $2.7 million to test farming methods that aim to enhance the mana and mauri of the soil across 10 farms. Read the
Pathways to Transition: Rere ki Uta, Rere ki Tai Read More »
