Government support for Māori landowners to invest in growing sheep milk industry

The Government is backing a project to support Māori landowners to invest in New Zealand’s rapidly growing sheep milk industry, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said today.

It is investing in the Māori Agribusiness Sheep Milk Collective, which aims to have several farms milking about 25,000 sheep and potentially employing more than 100 people by 2030.

Global demand for sheep milk and sheep milk products is booming, Mr O’Connor said. Exports of New Zealand sheep milk products were valued at $20 million in 2020.

The Government is injecting $700,000 into the Māori Agribusiness Sheep Milk Collective to help it explore the potential to sustainably produce sheep milk at scale, create jobs and further grow this emerging export market.

The collective is made up of 20 Māori land trusts and incorporations that own more than 24,000 hectares of land stretching from the western shore of Lake Taupō to the Hauraki Plains.

Government invests in major horticulture project in northern Hawke’s Bay

An ambitious horticulture project is under way to lift the productivity of Māori-owned land in northern Hawke’s Bay, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said today.

The Government is investing $440,000 to help members of the Wairoa Horticultural Hub build on the potential of their land and to create jobs.

The hub is made up of representatives from more than 20 blocks of land covering 460 hectares, the majority of it Māori-owned.

“Our investment is enabling landowners to get on-the-ground support to identify suitable parcels of land to be sustainably developed into horticulture,” Mr O’Connor said.

“It’s part of a long-term vision to harness the full benefits of the Wairoa district’s soils, water and climate. It has the capacity to become a premier horticulture region.”