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Tim Rhodes and Wi Pere Farms: Running a 6,770-Hectare Gisborne Station

As general manager, Tim Rhodes oversees a Gisborne hill-country operation of 6,770 hectares and 4,600 cattle that won New Zealand's top Maori farming award in 2022.

Who is Tim Rhodes?

Tim Rhodes is the general manager of Wi Pere Farms, the sheep and beef business owned by the Wi Pere Trust near Gisborne on New Zealand's North Island. The public record on him is thin: the main source is the official announcement of the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy, published on the Te Puni Kokiri website, which names him as the manager who oversees the farm.

This profile therefore concentrates on the operation he manages, and says plainly where the record stops.

How big is Wi Pere Farms?

The farm covers 6,770 hectares, of which 4,900 are effective, spread over two blocks: Otara at Whatatutu and Tangihanga at Waituhi. The announcement describes the ground as steep, hard hill country. It carries 51,000 stock units, made up of 32,400 sheep and 4,600 cattle, and it employs fifteen people full time.

A stock unit is a standard measure that lets managers compare different animals on common terms, and it is how New Zealand farm sizes are usually described. At 6,770 hectares, Wi Pere is several times larger than the 1,506-hectare Mangaroa Station that took the same trophy in 2015, as the 2015 trophy report shows.

The Wi Pere Trust and its history

Wi Pere set up the Trust in 1899 through an Act of Parliament, to protect the family's remaining land while the Poverty Bay flats were being lost. More than a century later, the Trust is a landowning body that runs a commercial farm.

The trustees have also worked with the Maori Affairs Department and ministers Te Ururoa Flavell and Parekura Horomia on modernizing legislation that affects Maori landowners. Trustee Trudy Meredith told the awards audience the Trust is 'not all about profit.'

Winning the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy

The Trust won the Ahuwhenua Trophy at the awards dinner on 21 October 2022 on its first entry. The dinner, held in Taradale in Hawke's Bay, was the largest in the trophy's history, with more than 800 guests. The trophy was created by Sir Apirana Ngata and Governor General Lord Bledisloe, about 89 years before.

The award went to the Trust's farm, so credit belongs to the whole organization, including the trustees, Rhodes and the full-time staff.

The Key to Rhodes's Success

Because the public record gives the farm's structure rather than Rhodes's own account, the lessons below describe how Wi Pere is built.

No financial results, debt levels or environmental measures are published in the source, so none are claimed.

  • Scale in hill country: 4,900 effective hectares across two blocks give the farm room to carry 4,600 cattle and 32,400 sheep.
  • Two blocks, one system: Otara and Tangihanga are run as one business, under a single general manager.
  • A real workforce: fifteen full-time staff for a farm of this size is a sizable commitment.
  • Long-term ownership: a trust set up in 1899 can plan for generations, not seasons.
  • Working with government: trustees took part in modernizing laws that affect Maori landowners.

Where Wi Pere sits among New Zealand beef producers

Wi Pere is a large hill-country business. At the other end of the scale, the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards report recognizes Conscious Valley, a small farm near Wellington selling to chefs. Both show that New Zealand beef is made in very different ways.

For more cattle country stories, see farm.FM's ranching pages, and a farm.FM story on hill-country cattle.

Timeline

  1. 1899Wi Pere sets up the Wi Pere Trust by Act of Parliament to protect remaining whanau land
  2. About 1933Ahuwhenua Trophy created by Sir Apirana Ngata and Lord Bledisloe
  3. 2015Mangaroa Station wins the 82nd Ahuwhenua Trophy
  4. 2022Wi Pere Trust enters the Ahuwhenua Trophy for the first time
  5. 2022Wins the trophy on 21 October at the Taradale awards dinner

Frequently asked questions

Who is Tim Rhodes?

Tim Rhodes is the general manager of Wi Pere Farms in Gisborne, New Zealand, a 6,770-hectare sheep and beef operation owned by the Wi Pere Trust and winner of the 2022 Ahuwhenua Trophy.

How big is Wi Pere Farms?

It covers 6,770 hectares, with 4,900 effective, over the Otara and Tangihanga blocks. It carries 32,400 sheep and 4,600 cattle, about 51,000 stock units, with fifteen full-time staff.

When was the Wi Pere Trust founded?

Wi Pere set up the Trust in 1899 through an Act of Parliament to protect remaining family land as the Poverty Bay flats were being lost.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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