Police say the death of a Waikato farmer who died after crashing his quad bike and falling into a drain less than a kilometre from home is a tragedy.
They said it appeared Tommy Tahinga Ruparere left his Te Akau home to move stock with his two dogs on Monday morning.
District road policing manager Inspector Freda Grace said Mr Ruparere's family started to worry that afternoon when he failed to come home, but one of his dogs did.
Mrs Grace said search and rescue teams looked for him overnight.
He was found at 4am under his quad bike in a drain beside the gravel road, about 600 metres from home.
Mrs Grace said the man's other dog was found alive with the quad bike.
She said police were investigating the crash with Worksafe New Zealand.