AWHI's newest farmer has generations of experience

Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation’s (AWHI’s) newest farm manager is also the organisation’s youngest - although he has been working the land since he could walk.

At only 26-years-old, Hamish Alexander became the youngest farmer to manage any of the seven stations in the AWHI estate when he took over the 5,720-hectare Te Pā sheep and beef farm earlier this year.

But already the third-generation farmer is thinking about those to come who will be responsible for AWHI’s mana whenua.

“I have two main values or aspirations that I want to achieve in this role,” says Hamish.

“I want the AWHI whānau to know that I will take care of their land, as if it were my own, and that I will do everything I can to leave it in a better state than when I first started working it.”

“Leaving a legacy of clean and healthy land for the next generation is really important to me.”

“I also want them to know that I am passionate about doing all I can to maximise the returns to them through optimising production and passing on what knowledge of farming I can to their young ones.”

Hamish is the second person in his whānau to take up a position of responsibility in AWHI. The first was his koro, Noel Bates, who was an original committee member for the organisation.

“I was only eight-years-old when he died but I remember him always being passionate about the land and his people, so for me to be able to work land for people who are part of my larger family makes this role extra special for me,” says Hamish.

Prior to taking up the reins at Te Pā, Hamish worked as a stock manager at both Pohuetai Station in Dannevirke and then at AWHI’s Tohunga Station.

“I learned a lot at Pohuetai but I was forever getting itchy feet wanting to get back closer to home, to the mountain, to where I am from and where I was raised,” says Hamish.

Hamish grew up on a farm in Waiouru, where he could be found helping his father ‘as soon as I could walk,’ he recalls.

“I’ve always loved farming. There was nothing else in the world that I dreamed of doing.”

“Here at Te Pā we have the most amazing land with hidden flats, plateaus and terraces that can’t be seen from the road. I am truly blessed to be here.”

Hamish’s unwavering love for farming lead him to graduate with a Bachelor in Commerce and Agriculture, majoring in farm management, from Lincoln University.

And while the newest addition to the AWHI whānau has new ideas, he likes to maintain a high level of common sense.

“There will be plenty of opportunity to try new things but I don’t like to over complicate matters, if it’s not necessary. Sometimes sticking to the basics is best.”