The average size of MÄori farms was almost three times larger than the average size of all farms in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2022, according to figures released by Stats NZ.
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The greater average size of MÄori farms was driven by a higher proportion of larger farms, with 16 percent of all MÄori farms being larger than 1,000 hectares, compared with 5 percent for all New Zealand farms.
“MÄori authorities manage collectively owned farms, which tend to be larger than average New Zealand farms. Almost half of MÄori farms are owned and operated by MÄori authorities," tatauranga umanga MÄori manager Geraldine Duoba said.
"In addition to larger farm sizes, MÄori farms also held more stock,†Duoba said.
In 2022, MÄori farms had, on average, just over double the stock of the average New Zealand farm, including:
• 3 times as many beef cattle
• 7 times as many sheep
• 5 times as many dairy cattle.
Most MÄori farms (85 percent) were in the North Island in 2022. About half of MÄori farms were in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Northland regions.
The most common farm types in these regions were:
• Bay of Plenty, kiwifruit growing (38 percent of MÄori farms)
• Waikato, dairy cattle farming (36 percent of MÄori farms)
• Northland, beef cattle farming – specialised (48 percent of MÄori farms).
Bay of Plenty had a greater proportion of small farms than other regions. Two thirds of the 183 MÄori farms in Bay of Plenty were under 100 hectares in 2022, compared with 46 percent of MÄori farms overall.
Over two-thirds of MÄori farms in both the North Island (68 percent) and South Island (71 percent) were livestock farms in 2022, including sheep, beef, and dairy cattle farms.
MÄori farms in the North Island carried more stock in total than their South Island counterparts. MÄori farms in the Gisborne region alone accounted for 32 percent of sheep and 27 percent of beef cattle on all MÄori farms.
“While livestock farms are the more common type of MÄori farms across Aotearoa, large areas of MÄori agricultural land are also dedicated for use as forests,†Duoba said.
MÄori farms used almost seven times as much land on average for forestry compared with the average of all farms in New Zealand. A greater proportion of farms in the South Island (32 percent) were primarily used for forestry in 2022, compared with 12 percent of North Island MÄori farms.
The Agricultural Production Census 2022 collected information on farming activities across Aotearoa. The 2022 survey included new questions that enabled respondents to state if they consider their farm to be a MÄori farm and if the owner or owners have MÄori whakapapa (genealogy).
“This has improved both the quality of the data, and the number of MÄori farms we have identified,†Duoba said. ■