Our Dairy Farms
manaaki whenua, manaaki whaanau
Transforming the land into successful dairy units has been a gradual, but rewarding process. In 1982 the Waotu Lands Trust, established by the Māori Land Court as the government moved away from Crown management of Māori land and began to place it in the hands of the beneficial owners, developed the dairy unit as one major development.
The Trust employed 50/50 sharemilkers John & Tricia Priscott and built a cowshed, a house, and a water bore on the Tokopuhi block. Lands located in the Wiltsdown Road area were amalgamated as Waotu South 17 and called Te Raparahi Lands.
Te Harore a Kapu lands were on the northern side of Wiltsdown Road & Tokopuhi on the southern side.
In 1992 Te Raparahi Lands were withdrawn from the Waotu Lands Trust and became an entity of its own with separate trustees. By 1994, it was farmed as two separate dairy units and run by sharemilkers. Te Raparahi Lands were originally 72ha for Tokopuhi & 131ha for Te Harore a Kapu.
The farms are located approximately 2 kilometres south of Pikitu Marae. With a recent purchase of a dairy unit in Tokoroa, Te Raparahi Lands Trust has continued to grow. The Trust has made strategic partnerships with Miraka Ltd, its 50/50 sharemilkers, AgFirst, and many others, in order to realise the purposes of the Trust and to achieve our cultural and socio-economic imperatives that derive from our beneficial owners.
The Trust is committed to sustainable farming, and work to maintain and preserve the whenua for it beneficial owners.