Country Life

This week Country Life meets some characterful Clydesdale horses, finds out about the Waimate Trail, explores rural life through objects via a new book and heads to threatened Thornton Lagoon in Bay of Plenty.

They used to be a regular sight on New Zealand's roads and paddocks - the plodding but magnificent Clydesdales. The horses with the hobbit hooves are becoming rare and their personality, dignity and legacy have inspired Susie Izard and her daughter Cate Smith to help save the breed.

Ben Banks is trying to protect the fragile dunes, wildlife and vegetation at a coastal lagoon near Whakatāne. Volunteering his time, he and his family trap for predators and pests but there's another threat to the area - the four-wheeled kind.

Husband and wife duo Te Radar and Ruth Spencer have recently partnered together on a new book 'Kiwi Country: Rural New Zealand in 100 Objects'.

Volunteers are nearing completion of the first leg of a new trail for walkers, runners and cyclists in South Canterbury, the 67km Waimate Trail which will pass through native forest, limestone rock formations, tussock tops, river flats and valleys.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

This week Country Life talks to researchers who say there’s potential for the brown kiwi to become a pest patroller in orchards and vineyards. Mark Leishman pulls on his Country Life gumboots to meet an entrepreneur behind an intriguing gateway made of the toughest timber – ironbark, and a visit to a Waikato farming family who’ve been integrating robotics and automation into their dairy operation.

When it comes to farming, planning for the next season today is key, says the Coubrough family. The 5th generation dairying family is are all on the same page - they want robotics to milk the cows for them.

Ever wondered what happened to some of the damaged timber from the Lyttelton wharves after the Canterbury earthquakes? The tough ironbark they were made from was too good not to be rescued and Oxford's Steve Evans was just the man for the job, as Mark Leishman discovered.

Could growers harness the kiwi as a way of reducing pests attacking their crops? A recent study has filmed the endangered birds entering vineyards and orchards at night to feast on beetles, weevils, grass grub and other insects.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

This week Country Life is in Marlborough's back country on Molesworth Station, we check out the sale action at the Feilding saleyards and learn more about Chinese mooncakes, or suncakes as one gardener views them.

It's an early start for the musterers at Molesworth Station. The bulls are out with the cows for the mating season and everyone needs to beat the heat. Country Life producer Sally Round spent a day with the stockmen, the farmer and the cook, peeling back some of the mystique of New Zealand's most famous farm.

Global demand for red meat is driving strong prices for sheep and cattle, some of the best former Feilding farmer Eric Linklater has seen in over 20 years of guiding tours at the local saleyards.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.