Northland farmer Coby Warmington is one of three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmers Award. Photo / Alphapix
Northland farmer Coby Warmington is one of three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Maori Farmers Award. Photo / Alphapix
Two of the three finalists in this year’s Ahuwhenua Young Māori Farmer Award are from Northland.
Coby Warmington, 29, a farm manager at Waima in Northland, and Puhirere Tau, 27, a head shepherd at Tolaga Bay on the East Coast, each have Ngāpuhi heritage and were raised in Te Tai Tokerau.
Completing the trio of finalists is Grace Watson, 24, a shepherd general on a farm in Te Kuiti, of Whakatōhea descent in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
Finalist Puhirere Tau (Ngati Porou, Ngapuhi) who farms on the East Coast. Photo / Alphapix
The three finalists' backgrounds and strengths were summarised in a statement from the competition organisers:
Warmington (Te Mahurere, Ngāpuhi) manages 385ha of mostly rolling hill county at Waima Topu Beef in Waima, where he lives on the property with his partner Holly and their four children.
Originally from Waima, he returned when he became shepherd/general at Waima Topu Beef in 2021. He was made farm manager in 2023.
Warmington’s passion for farming evolved from an enjoyment of being outdoors and working with animals, as well as a love for kai and feeding people, he said.
His earliest memories of farming were misty mornings, tagging along with dad to help on his grandfather’s beef breeding farm.
At school, Warmington got top of his agriculture class. He then worked for three years at a local meat works, then for a local fencing contractor and took on part-time mustering jobs.
Te Kuiti farmer and Young Māori Farmer Award finalist 2025 Grace Watson Photo / Alphapix
Skills he gained through those jobs helped him into a fulltime shepherding role at Oromahoe Trust, where he got experience with intensive bull finishing systems, and was supported into studies with Primary ITO.
Since Warmington arrived at Waima Topu Beef, the farm has transformed from a small number of extensive paddocks, low-quality in-paddock dam water and 100ha+ of mature gorse and tobacco, to 165ha of intensive grazing cells, a robust water reticulation system, kilometres of metalled farm tracks and gorse areas brought back into grazing.
Warmington and the property’s directors are passionate about mitigating the negative effects farming has on the environment and as a part of the farm’s development have excluded stock from many waterways, native bush blocks and erosion-prone areas.
His future plans include a target of Waima Topu Beef being in Northland’s top 5% producing farms, with space for on-farm training of young people. Warmington also wants to make the most of continuing education opportunities.
Born and raised in the Far North, Puhirere also proudly has whakapapa (Ngati Porou) to the East Coast, where his deep connection to the land and its people has shaped his journey in the agricultural sector.
With seven years of experience in the agricultural industry, he is now head shepherd at Puatai Station, a bull finishing block on the East Coast, and plays a crucial role in managing the 650ha farm.
Watson is employed on the 1000ha Puketitiri Station in the King Country, near Te Kuiti. She is currently completing the Level 4 Primary ITO Sheep and Beef course to help prepare her to step up to a stock manager/manager’s role in the future. Her long-term goal is farm ownership.
Sarah Curtis is a general news reporter for the Northern Advocate. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast. She is passionate about covering stories that make a difference, especially those involving environmental issues.
