October 2021 Newsletter

Kia ora koutou

I hope you and your whanau have all been keeping safe and well as we navigate through life where COVID-19 and lockdowns continue to challenge us. It has been an unsettled time of late, but with vaccination rates increasing across New Zealand, we can be optimistic that the future will return to what was considered normal pre-Covid.

On a more positive note, the 2020/21 dairy farming season was excellent. It is rare that we get an excellent grass growing season together with a very high milk price, but the 2020/21 season was exactly that. The Main Station also had a great yield on their maize crop and continues to produce some outstanding beef cattle.

Environmentally, the farms are all in a good position. Our Dairy Farm Environment Plans have been completed. We have constructed a new effluent pond and weeping wall at Te Kaiwhatina and we have continued our native planting programme with a further 3,000 trees being planted on Tututawa. We are well placed to take advantage of the 10c payment for Fonterra’s Co-operative Difference programme which includes four areas: Environment, Animals, People and Community, and Milk Quality.

Our new Commercial Property in Rotorua, that was purchased in November 2020, has been performing well. We have three strong tenants, all in the health sector, and this purchase has continued the Board’s investment diversification policy.

At our recent Trustee elections, shareholders have shown their continuing support for sitting trustees, Hui Sprott and Graeme Menzies. As there were no other nominations received, Hui and Graeme were duly appointed for a further term – congratulations to them. Trustee succession planning continues to weigh on the Board’s agenda as age catches up with a number of sitting Trustees.

Our shareholder Kaumatua Grants have again been well received with numbers similar to last year. Please remember that ‘Confirmation Forms’ must be completed and returned to us each year to ensure that payments can be made. It is our intention to enable the forms to be completed electronically via the website in the near future.

The Education Committee have done another excellent job rewarding students with grants.

Once again, I would like to thank my fellow Trustees who continue to work hard and make decisions in the best interests of Aotearoa Trust and its shareholders. This year the Board has implemented an incentive programme to encourage shareholders to attend the AGM on November 6. All shareholders over 18 years old who attend will receive a $50.00 payment to help with travel expenses. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you at our AGM.