Duncan Smith

The Bay of Plenty avocado harvest is half way through and in Waikato, the harvesting of outdoor blueberries started this week. Lamb weaning is gaining momentum in Canterbury while in Central Otago… Audio

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

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… Audio

The Country Life webpage is showcasing a series of classic country clips from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. This week's film looks at gorse. Last week featured the inventor of the post hole borer, Ron… 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… Audio

Lamb deaths are expected following this week's cold snap which has brought snow and bitterly cold conditions to North and South Island hill country. Audio

Hawkes Bay has finally seen some rain and the West Coast of the South lsland has had more than its share; some parts have received 2 metres of rain in the past three months. Audio

It's poured with rain virtually everywhere in the North Island this week, except eastern Wairarapa which is still desperate for rain, and early lambing farms on the Waimea Plains are having the worst… Audio

Calving's kicking off on dairy farms around the country and frosts in central Otago have only hit -5 degrees; it's the ones in double digits farmers worry about. Audio