Country Life

There was flooding to all the main alpine fed rivers in Canterbury last weekend while in many parts of the North Island paddocks and orchards are drying out. Some welcome rain elsewhere in the North has given a boost to feed crops.

It's wild salmon fishing season, and our guest this week, Chief Executive of North Canterbury Fish & Game, Rasmus Gabrielsson, talks about efforts to keep the fishery sustainable.

An Apple a Day, Growing Fruit Keeps a Family Strong, Fishing for the Future, The 90s File and the Regional Wrap.

Reefton dairy farmers Aaron Silcock and Sarah Gibson think the future lies in hemp. Aaron is a fourth-generation dairy farmer at Larry's Creek but says he'd like to eventually put his herd into retirement on the 307-hectare farm and focus on growing industrial hemp.

In the third of the View from the Vines series, we tidy up the vine canopy with winemaker John Douglas before heading into the barrel room with a hen party who've arrived for a tasting.

Opunake farmer Andy Whitehead milks eight different breeds of cattle. Lakenvelders are his favourite. They hail from the Netherlands and are easy to spot in the dark.

Waikato's become a bit dry in the past week but good rain, forecast for the weekend, should help set farms up well for summer. A hop grower at Tapawera in the Nelson region says the focus this week has been getting the growing hop vines trained up the strings.

Making Way for Hemp, Standing out from the Wine Crowd, Lakenvelder cattle and the Regional Wrap.

A gypsy caravan-maker is among people in Manawatu who are beavering away in their garages and farm sheds turning rusting iron tools, fencing wire and other bits and pieces into works of art for the annual Kimbolton Sculpture Festival.

Americans are joining a waiting list to belong to a New Zealand meat company's Steak Club. Each month Hawke's Bay-based First Light delivers four, 100 percent grass-fed Wagyu beef steaks to members doorsteps.