Horticulture
A rum tale
Her parents were among New Zealand's first macadamia nut growers but Janet Charteris has taken over the original orchard shed near Oakura in Taranaki and installed a big and shiny copper still. Janet… Video, Audio
Healing the Land
A gully at the base of Mt Taranaki surrounded by dairy farms has been transformed into a food forest nourished by home waste. The family who live here save energy and water by farming on terraces and… Video, Audio
From Dumpster-Diving to No-Dig Greens
Solicitor Alexandra Morrisey ditched her office job, linked up with her best friend Victoria Sala and, with a baby on the way, set up a veggie box business using the time-efficient no-dig method… Video, Audio
The Otago 'dirt doctor' who fixed his damaged soil
North Otago vege grower Jim O'Gorman has spent the past 20 years studying the soil at his market garden at Kakanui. His research focuses on restoring to health and high productivity damaged land… Video, Audio
Keeping people safe on the orchard and on farm
WorkSafe NZ's Al McCone says two simple things could save many deaths a year in rural NZ. Audio
NZ's largest kiwifruit grower posts increase in profit
Produce company Seeka has posted a 12 percent increase in profits for the first half of the year, driven by more volume coming through its kiwifruit business.
Horticulture and wine industries: Get RSE workers in asap
The horticulture and wine industries are welcoming a government announcement of more seasonal workers from the Pacific, but say the unpredictability of Covid makes it prudent to move quickly. From… Audio
Summer Series - Growing for Gold
Budou table grapes can fetch up to $160 a bunch in Japan. Third generation grape grower Tetsuya Higuchi is growing the enormous, sweet, picture-perfect Japanese style grape in Hawke's Bay. The grapes… Audio
Guest - Stuart Weston, CEO Apata
Our guest this week is Stuart Weston, chief executive of the kiwifruit grower and packhouse operator Apata. The company is on the hunt for land around Whanganui. Audio
25 years of organics - 'We were all rebels in those days'
Cows and dogs as well as people around south east Asia are taking a daily tipple of Kim Baker's organic apple cider vinegar. He is one of New Zealand's earliest organic growers still producing and… Audio
Farming Flavour - chocolate and chillies
Chocolatier Johnty Tatham and his brother Paddy who is experimenting with chillies are forging new paths as the sixth generation on a sheep and beef farm on the Wairarapa coast. Video, Audio
Richard Langston's heartfelt Mother's Day poem
Born to a Lebanese immigrant family in Dunedin, and a 'Country Calendar' director by trade, Richard Langston is constantly refreshing his acquaintance with the country he calls home through the form… Audio
A Side Hustle in Saffron
Haley Heathwaite was looking for something "a bit different and a challenge" when deciding on a crop of her own to grow alongside her job with a Gisborne seed company. She chose saffron, the precious… Audio
Growers urge govt action on chronic labour shortage
Agriculturalists are demanding assurances from the government that the chronic labour shortage they're facing never happens again.
Covid-19 has left them without thousands of workers and with no… Audio
Miro - Bringing jobs home
Miro is a collective of Māori businesses, trusts, whānau, hapū and iwi growing blueberries on Māori-owned land to increase its productivity and create jobs. Audio, Gallery
Dealing with a crunch - the fruit industry's labour shortage
Despite 2000 more seasonal workers due to arrive in New Zealand from January 2021, things aren't looking too rosy according some growers in the Hawkes Bay region. Produced by Kadambari Raghukumar. Audio
The 90s File - Sam Tietjen
Sam Tietjen trained in mechanical engineering but has come back to the family orchard and is now overseeing the planting of 2000 avocado trees. Audio
Protection from PSA
Plant and Food Research has developed an environmentally-friendly spray to help fend off the kiwifruit vine killing disease PSA. Audio
New Zealand's horticulture labour shortage won't have RSE help
At a meeting with local growers in Hastings this afternoon, the Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi was adamant the Government won't let in workers from overseas to help with a horticulture labour… Audio
Government nixes calls for fruit pickers to be let into NZ, for now
The Minister of Immigration is adamant the government will not let oveseas workers cut corners through border controls to fix a horticulture labour shortage.