King Country Farmer | February 19, 2026 by Cambridge, King Country & Te Awamutu News, Waikato & Bay of Plenty Business News

On the northwestern edge of the King Country, where the road gives way to harbour and tide, farming doesn’t always happen on land. At Aotea Harbour, the Dockery family has quietly farmed the water since the 1980s - producing hundreds of tonnes of food from an area smaller than many King Country paddocks. It is a family affair for, from left, Kelly, Janine and Georgia Dockery who all play a role in running Aotea Marine Farms.

Photo: Aquaculture NZ.

See: Farming the harbour, page 6

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a wrap…

Innovate and adapt are buzz words for the Āria Sports Day organisers. The tiny King Country village has been hosting the event since 1904 and it’s now arguably the longest-running rural sports day in the country. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill captured these images showing why it’s such a success at attracting patrons from New Zealand, United Kingdom and Europe.

day ahead, from left

Long

Matene Mason with son Riki, 10, from Masterton and Zakaia Lewis (Dannevirke) maintain their shearing combs from the back of their ute.

They’re off in one of the children’s races.

Peering anxiously down the water slide, this toddler gets a word of encouragement from Mum while Dad waits at the bottom and his older brother is next to go.

Ōtorohanga mayor Rodney Dow with fiancée Michelle Erikson were one of many shearing sponsors in attendance.

Keeping a close eye on the wool handlers’ performance was judge Bo Pakau-Clark of Masterton.

Woops, one of the sheep bolts while Trev and master Graeme Brier of Piopio look on during the sheep trials at Āria Sports Day.

Helping hand: After the colour run, the water slide into a water filled hole at the bottom allowed kids to clean up at the Āria Sports Day.

Attention to detail could be one of the major reasons Te Kūiti’s Jack Fagan is such a good shearer. Here seen magnifying his shearing combs for a top performance

Job well done. These King Country legends reflect on another successful Āria Sports Day, from left: Blair ‘Munta’ Nelson, Peter Foss, Peter McCormick and Chris Hoare.

Rain brings work back

Agricultural contractors are having their best season in more than a decade.

A wetter than average spring and summer has created ideal growing conditions, giving agricultural contractors more work than is usual for the time of year.

They are flat out with grass silage and bailage, maize crop work, pasture and crop spraying, and late‑summer cultivation as dairy farmers prepare autumn feed.

Pirongia based Reymer Ag’s Mike Reymer said his business was 20 per cent busier than normal for the time of year and it was the busiest they had been since 2012.

“Any rain after November

is good,” Reymer said

“Compared to last year it is about 50 per cent busier.”

The last two seasons have been unseasonably dry.

“At this time last year we had pretty much shut up shop, we were doing nothing,” Reymer said.

Ōtorohanga based MF Agri’s Davin Mudford has also seen a 20 per cent increase in business.

“The grass growth is making it all happen a lot more at the moment,” he said.

“It’s just the conditions.”

Mudford, who is also a dairy farmer, was cautious about getting too excited about the boom.

“Operating costs are just

through the roof,” he said.

Mudford said $8 per kg of milksolids was break even on his farm,

Fonterra’s forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the current season is between $8.50 to $9.50 per kg.

Miahihi based Disher Contracting’s Neville Disher said the weather meant grass had been growing.

“Everything has been busy, we are doing hay and sileage,” he said.

“It’s turned out to be a good season compared to last year,” said Ōtorohanga based Hall & Wilson’s Nathan Wilson.

He was initially concerned this season might mirror the last two.

“It started off quite wet, so it’s been a good growing season, and we have done more work than normal,” he said.

Piopio based Bryant Contracting’s Nik Bryant said his business was about 30 per cent busier than they would normally be, putting about 20 per cent of the extra work down to growth and 10 per cent down to the favourable weather.

“It was not busy for a while, but we have picked up more work, so we need more people” he said.

His team had been kept busy with work farmers had deferred, such as race maintenance, he said.

“It’s pretty busy.”

Summer is a high‑pressure, weather‑dependent season for agricultural contractors as they juggle multiple time‑critical tasks across dairy, arable, and mixed‑farming systems.

Milk production lifted 2.5 per cent nationally in December due to favourable growing conditions, Fonterra said this month, while production for the 12 months to December was up 1.9 per cent.

In the North Island milk collections in December were 99.9 million kilograms of milk solids, 0.1per cent higher than December last season.

“The increase was mainly due to favourable pasture

conditions, supported by higher soil moisture along the East Coast and parts of the West Coast, partially offset by hotter, drier conditions in Northland, Bay of Plenty and central areas,” Fonterra’s Global Dairy Update said.

Davin Mudford

Cutting maize.

Photo: Reymer Ag Cousins Noah and Max rest on hay bales. Photo: Michael Jeans Rain and fertiliser has kept the pastures green. Photo: Supplied

Backing better animal health

Dairy Women’s Network has partnered with AgriHealth, an animal health company, to support farmers with practical education.

The partnership will see AgriHealth deliver a programme of workshops and webinars for network members, focusing on everyday animal health issues faced on farm.

Topics will include mastitis, on farm diagnostics, reproduction, cow and calf health, and improving productivity through

on-farm efficiencies.

Network chief executive Jules Benton says animal health plays a key role in running a successful and sustainable dairy business.

“Making good decisions on farm has never been more important. Having access to reliable, practical animal health information helps farmers take action with confidence,” she says.

AgriHealth head of marketing and technical, Lyndsay Lawrence, says the company is looking forward to working

alongside network members.

“We enjoy sharing knowledge and working with people who are keen to learn. Being part of the Dairy Women’s Network community allows us to connect directly with farmers and support better outcomes for herd health and productivity,” she says.

Workshops will be held in key dairy regions over the coming months, with online options available to ensure farmers can take part regardless of location.

– Mary Anne Gill

Equifest moves north

One of New Zealand’s biggest equine events will be closer to home for King Country riders and horse enthusiasts, with Equifest moving to Hamilton for at least the next three years.

The three‑day festival, previously held in Taupō, combines education, competition, shopping and entertainment, and attracts equestrian competitors and spectators from across the country.

More than 16,000 people attended Equifest last year, with almost 200 exhibitors and more than 460 horses involved.

Equifest will be held at Claudelands Events Centre in

Local government shakeup

By Garry Reymer, Waipā-King Country regional councillor

In my last column I addressed the significant local government reform that was recently announced by the Coalition government.

They didn’t stop there.

Wellington has quickly followed that with a plan to change the Resource Management Act and introduce rates capping bill.

At the end of January your regional council got together to work out how we would respond to the proposed shakeup of local government roles and responsibilities. I want to share with you some of the discussion we have had to date.

Local Government: A Mayoral Forum now exists, and it includes regional council chair, Warren Maher. The forum has responded to the minister and spelt out the complexity of what is being proposed. What we are certain about is that the regional council needs to be part of the discussion to shape what the new structure will look like. How we govern, elect and manage the new entity will be critical to its success.

Rates Capping: In a nutshell this is the government telling all councils to focus on the basics which I’m sure is a sentiment many would echo. It is clear to me that the introduction of a rates cap goes hand in hand with local government reform. If we hand the

responsibility for some of our most costly infrastructure, such as what has happened with Waikato Water Done Well, roading, flood protection, and potentially urban transport, back to the Crown, or Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs) rates become more of a community fund for community projects.

Alternatively, they could be run by a CCO with a commercial board type governance structure.

RMA reform: This is the big one. It will impact everything we do. The draft legislation (Natural Environment and Planning Bill) looks to rebalance the protection of the environment with property rights. The aim is to reboot productivity and to relieve landowners of burdensome consenting if they want to change their land use. This is an extremely simplistic statement to summarise the draft submission we have been working on this past week. As with any change there are trade offs, but we are trying to get the balance right while being wary of unintended consequences.

The impacts on Plan Change One, our region and its economic prosperity will be great, and we must make sure that the greater Waikato region is able to maximise it potential while respecting the environment.

DISHER

Action from Equifest in Taupō.

Photo: Supplied

Another string to the bow

Diversifying beyond stock and milk is helping King Country and Waipā farmers build resilience when times get tough, as Jon Rawlinson discovered.

Investing in bricks and mortar (or canvas), numerous King Country and Waipā farmers have diversified, drawing on an extra income stream while adding capital value to their businesses by catering to tourists.

Whether by building baches, cabins or establishing camping/ glamping options, farmers need not be completely reliant on the price of meat or milk.

“A lot of women come onto farms after doing all sorts of things. They bring

diversity to farming and skills that can generate extra income,” says Rural Women NZ past president, Fiona Gower.

“There are a lot of ups through offering accommodation on farms – you add capital value to the business and it helps with cash flow. If it’s a really tough year with meat or milk prices, extra income can offset losses and may make all the difference to staying afloat.”

Based at Port Waikato, Gower has many enduring connections to, and knowledge of, the greater Waikato and King Country regions. For more than 20 years, Marokopa has been her home away from home – and she was also a founder of Rural Women’s Waitanguru branch.

While she says that some farms in the region appeal to holidaymakers who like to be beside the seaside or riverside, people aren’t just drawn to the area by the scenery alone. Farm-stay accommodation is growing

in popularity, especially among urban visitors looking to escape to the country.

“Experience holidays are really taking off. People want to get away from traditional hotels, out on a farm where they can feed a lamb, go horse riding, connect with nature or just learn more about what grassroots farmers actually do.”

Such ‘stay and play’ operations can benefit further by connecting with other nearby businesses, from restaurants to tourist attractions, for mutual gain, Gower says.

From the King Country coast to the Waipā and Waikato river valleys and all parts in between, there are already plenty of success stories. However, this means there’s plenty of competition too, and holiday hot spots can prove money pits if not established or managed effectively, Gower advises.

“Make sure that you do it well. People don’t want to stay in grotty old shearers’

quarters. Rustic is appealing, run down isn’t. It has to be clean, tidy and safe,” she says.

Of course not every farm offering holiday accommodation in the region has been built with the assistance of Rural Women NZ, but helping to grow new business is one of the organisation’s primary aims. From a

few words of advice to more comprehensive business programmes, the organisation proves there’s strength in numbers.

Just one example is Ripples Retreat. Veteran interior designer Trudy Denize, along with her husband Brendan, began building cabins on their Piopio sheep and beef farm in 2019.

“One of the biggest problems is that you just don’t know some important stuff and you don’t even know people who do,” Denize says.

“Rural Women NZ provided a great sounding board for us. There’s a huge learning curve when setting up any new business and that’s where Rural Women really can come into its own.”

For rent, not for sale! Ripples Retreat, Piopio – a successful accommodation venture.

Fiona Gower

Farming the harbour…

Aquaculture may look different from sheep and beef, but on Aotea Harbour a King Country family has been farming the water for decades, as Jon Rawlinson discovered.

There may always be a place for terrestrial farming, but interest in aquaculture is steadily rising.

For Kelly Dockery, sustainability officer at

Kāwhia-based Aotea Marine Farms, it’s simply the family business she grew up with. The Aotea Harbour farm has been owned and operated by Ross and

Janine Dockery since the 1980s. With the help of their daughters Kelly, Georgia and Eilish, the family produces a substantial amount of food per hectare, Kelly says.

The operation produces a substantial amount of food from Aotea Harbour.

“We farm a lot in a very small space about 7.5 hectares but that produces hundreds of tonnes of food,” says Kelly.

“In general, the New Zealand mussel industry is super green – green lipped mussels are among the most sustainable forms of meat based protein in the world.”

Mussels deliver much bang for the buck –protein rich, they don’t require feeding, they have a relatively small carbon footprint and they even clean the water around them as they grow.

While the Dockery farm is more a nursery than a heavyweight mussel builder, its produce is in high demand.

“We grow wild caught spat, basically little baby

mussels,” Kelly says.

“After they spawn, they drift and swim. We put kilometres of rope into the water, collecting the spat that attaches to it, and let it grow for a few months before pulling it of the water. It’s then sent up to Coromandel.”

A lack of home grown spat has required Coromandel farms to rely on Kelly and co to supply them with spat, rope and all.

“We don’t have to collect

seaweed with spat on it and ship it to Coromandel; they just need to put the ropes back in the water, strip them once or twice and reseed so the mussels are more spread out as they grow.”

Land based runoff hasn’t been a major issue for the farm, with Aotea Harbour’s tidal nature helping maintain water quality.

“The water quality in Aotea Harbour always seems to be quite a bit better than Kāwhia because

there are fewer rivers running into it, and it’s super tidal so nothing stays sitting there too long,” Kelly says.

“Also, our mussels still have another 18 months to grow after they leave here and they’re tested before they go to market.”

Although pine forestry is often seen as a cleaner land use, Kelly says heavy rain events can bring significant debris and waste down into the harbour.

Continued next page

Toddler Kelly Dockery stands in front of her parents Ross and Janine atop the first ever “mussel barge” on Aotea Harbour with mussel pioneer Dave Morrison, extreme left, unknown scientists and to the right her late grandparents Edith and Reg Dockery and Kaiaua mussel farmer Mark Aislabie.

Photo: Aotea Marine Farms.

Ross Dockery.

Photo Aquaculture NZ

“There is a lot of forestry, so when there are big weather events there’s definitely waste floating down and the water’s just gross.”

Already more sustainable than many other forms of farming, aquaculture may still have a little room for improvement. Aotea has welcomed researchers and,

with two university degrees of her own, Kelly appears happy to help.

“We’ve been involved with heaps of companies, organisations and universities over the years. At the moment, we do quite a lot with the University of Auckland,” she says.

“They’re studying ways to

harvest tidal energy which would benefit us all.”

Even the smallest details matter.

“I’ve had a bit to do with testing types of renewable rope, made from coconut or flax fibres. They haven’t quite sorted 100 per cent natural based rope, so those could be a bit greener, and we need

fuel for our boats, but apart from that you can’t really get much better.”

As pressure grows on all forms of food production, lessons learned on Aotea Harbour show how the King Country continues to play a quiet but important role in feeding the country on land and on water.

FARM SERVICES

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