Bringing a tikanga Māori perspective to dairy farming, while encouraging more wāhine Māori into the sector - that's the approach of Chevon Horsford, a finalist for the 2021 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year award.
Horsford was one of three finalists for the award and says she's inspired by the way her tipuna managed the land in a sustainable way and believes those principles and techniques can be applied to modern farming, especially on whenua Māori.
“We are really lucky that we have a connection, not just to the whenua, but also we whakapapa to the whenua," she says.
However, Horsford acknowledges that many dairy farms across the country are Pākehā or internationally owned, something she hopes to help change.
“My goal is to be able to have our whanau back into those roles and own their own space if we get the opportunity to do so.”