On the Farm

It's been foggy, frosty and wet in the North Island and belatedly the green kiwifruit harvest is starting to hum. Meanwhile in Central Otago, temperatures have been below zero and stock are being fed… Read more Audio

The dairy season is coming to an abrupt halt in the North Island and in the South, winter's made an appearance. Read more Audio

Rain arrived onto already wet pastures in the North Island and in the South, it's becoming too cold for the grass to grow in Central Otago. Read more Audio

More dairy herds are being dried off, or slowed to once a day milking now and there's the first snow on some North Island ranges. Southland dairy farms are also moving down to 16-hour-a-day milking in… Read more Audio

Lovely calm and sunny days, with cool nights, let North Island farmers and croppers get onto the land for cultivation or repair work, and the kiwifruit harvest had an uninterrupted week for a change… Read more Audio

The North Island is drying out after the Easter rain, and cool temperatures are helping kiwifruit mature. The rams out in force on hill country farms in Marlborough and there's tons of feed around… Read more Audio

Many North Island farms have saturated soils after a week of rain and in-between the downpours contractors are trying to harvest maize. In the South Island rain is destroying grape crops in Malborough… Read more Audio

The country's largest on-farm deer sale was held on High Peak Station, Mid Canterbury, this week and Edgecumbe farms are swamped. Much of the rest of the North Island is sodden too. Read more Audio

Bay of Plenty dairy farms are having a decent autumn but wet weather has interrupted the kiwifruit harvest. Grapes in Marlborough need more sun to ripen and in Southland store prices are on the rise… Read more Audio

Maize is being harvested in Waikato and the first kiwifruit exports left for China this week. Marlborough farmers are busy setting up rotations around tupping blocks for ewes. In vineyards the bulk of… Read more Audio

In Bay of Plenty the first of the Sun Gold kiwifruit are being harvested in sunny conditions. Kiwifruit are also being picked in Poverty Bay and Northland. On the West Coast of the South Island lots… Read more Audio

Northland, Auckland and Coromandel were swamped in a one in 100 year deluge this week, while elsewhere in the North Island the rainfall was more gentle, welcome and has grass growth pumping. In the… Read more Audio

The North Island is having a late summer and store lamb prices have increased, while in the South Island some farmers on the West Coast have turned their irrigation on! And a haze is in the air as mid… Read more Audio

In orchards around the country apples are coming off thick and fast. Paddocks are greening up in front of farmers' eyes in the North Island but in the South Island, North Canterbury is worryingly dry.

The North Island has had soaking good rain this week. Dairy cow pregnangy rates are generally down this season, between 15 to 20% are empty. In Central Otago high country weaning is in full swing and… Read more Audio

Rain's fallen in Northland, East Coast and Hawkes Bay, but follow-up is crucial and the drought's not broken. In the South Island farmers in South Canterbury and central Otago have plenty of… Read more Audio

Industry leaders from seven top beef producing nations have been in New Zealand to discuss the trials of farming beef and selling it to the world.

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An aerospace company has brought engineers from all over the world to the end of the isolated Mahia Peninsula. For locals, it's meant an injection of young blood and enthusiasm. Read more Audio

Forty Waikato teachers met last week to hear about bringing agri-science alive in the classroom. Read more Audio

Parts of the North Island have had sweltering temperatures this week but Horowhenua has been cool and gloomy. Read more Audio

Large, established honey companies make a lot of money from the manuka-covered hills of the East Coast. While the beehive rental money coming from manuka-based businesses is sizeable, some local Ngati… Read more Audio

Fruit growing roots run deep in the Gilchrist family – with Jack joining forces with his grandad John to become a fifth-generation orchardist on the slopes of the mighty Clutha River. Read more Audio

Fonterra's announcement of a lift in the dairy payout has been just the tonic farmers needed as they come out of a tiring, wet spring. Marlborough farmers should be drafting lambs and cattle now but… Read more Audio

Top of the South Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Ian Blair's priority is to get to isolated families. The main issues arising from the earthquake have been food, sanitation, power and communication.

North Island calves and lambs need more sun on their backs and, in the South Island, Otago is having a great spring. Read more Audio

In Bay of Plenty gold kiwifruit are flowering and bees are being deposited around orchards while in Canterbury baleage contractors are flat out and recently sown kale and fodder beet crops are… Read more Audio

Good sized yardings of cattle are coming forward in the North Island now the grass is starting to grow. Prices are high. New season store lambs are also fetching high prices which is surprising when… Read more Audio

It's been mild around the North Island, early maize is popping up and the weather's improved for general tractor work on paddocks. In the South Island wonderful rain has fallen in drought hit North… Read more Audio

It's felt like summer on the east coast of the North Island this week, but farmers are still squelching around in paddocks over much of the island. In the south, farmers are getting crops in and lambs… Read more Audio

It's been exceptionally wet in most North Island areas this week, from Auckland south through the central regions, streams are overflowing. In the South Island cropping farmers are able to get tractor… Read more Audio