To catch Moa the Māori used to burn off areas of bush to force the Moa out into the open where they could spear them.

Legendary sheep thief James McKenzie, opened the eyes of other settlers to the potential of the area for grazing animals at Omarama Station, Benmore Station. They had burn-offs to create more room for grazing and pastures.

Two big stations (Benmore and Omarama) were broken up into smaller stations. There were more people trying to make a living off the same area of land. They had more burn-offs and used more fertiliser. In the 1960s there was the development of the hydro dams.

There are two irrigation schemes  - Benmore and Ahuriri. All of the farms north of Omarama are covered by the Benmore scheme and all those south of Omarama are covered by the Ahuriri scheme.

Most of the land is intensively irrigated by the land owners.