Ngarua is a rural community in the

Matamata-Piako District Matamata-Piako District is a local government area in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It lies to the east of the city of Hamilton. Geography The district encompasses the southern end of the Hauraki Plains and much of the Thames Valley, and i ...

and

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. It is located south-east of

Tatuanui Tatuanui is a settlement and rural community in the Matamata-Piako District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located north-east of Morrinsville, south-west of Te Aroha, Waihou and Waitoa, and north of Ngarua, at the int ...

, west of

Morrinsville Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated population of as of The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains. ...

and north of

Waharoa Waharoa is a rural community in the Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hami ...

and

Matamata Matamata () is a town in Waikato, New Zealand. It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits. It is part of the Matamata-Piako District, which takes ...

on State Highway 27. The Tatua Dairy factory, in Tatuanui, is an independent co-operative owned by 114 shareholder farms from the Tatuanui and Ngarua area, all located within a 12 kilometre radius of the processing site. It exports specialist dairy products to more than 60 countries.

History

20th century

Ngarua developed as a dairy farming community around its first community hall, opened in 1908. The hall was extended in 1913 and was doubled in size in 1932. It hosted dances, concerts and community gatherings. Ronald Candy began working on his father's Hubert Candy's farm in 1921, and took over the management of the farm in 1925. He turned the rough and poorly drained peat into productive farmland, tested his cows for butterfat production, and experimented with different fertilisers. In 1926, he started a Ngarua herd-testing group, becoming a pioneer in herd improvement. In the following years he became an early advocate for heavy top-dressing, adequate sub-division, good drainage and

rotational grazing In agriculture, rotational grazing, as opposed to continuous grazing, describes many systems of pasturing, whereby livestock are moved to portions of the pasture, called paddocks, while the other portions rest. Each paddock must provide all the n ...

. A Ngarua unit of the Home Guard was established for the Second World War. In 1946 the Ngarua District Roll of Honour and Roll of Service was unveiled in the community hall, commemorating local men who had died in both world wars. In 1956, the Ngarua Memorial Hall was opened alongside the existing hall. Candy's Ngarua farm, Somersby, went on to become a showplace for high production and one of the first examples of dairy beef production. He and many of his farm workers became dairy industry leaders. Candy retired from many of his public positions in 1968 and committed suicide on his Ngarua farm in 1974.

21st century

The memorial hall was closed about 2005 and was sold to private owners in 2009. It was ultimately demolished in 2020. The settlement's roll of honour was moved to the Ngarua Community Church. It was later transferred to Morrinsville Museum. The area still consists of several dairy farms, like the fourth-generation Brown dairy farm.

Education

Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha is a co-educational state Māori immersion school for Year 1 to 13 students, with a roll of as of . There was previously a Ngarua School, established in 1907.

References

{{coord, -37.670980, 175.677409, region:NZ_type:city, display=title Matamata-Piako District Populated places in Waikato