Country Life

Morrison Farming, French cattle thriving on Banks Peninsula, the Greenland white fronted goose, Clive Dalton on lamb mortality and the Regional Wrap.

An American woman living in North Canterbury is determined to save a hardy breed of angora goat. "When we came over from Kansas three years ago we did not ever expect, if you were to have asked us, that we'd become goat herders but, here we are!" says Jill Nawrocki.

Five hundred thousand beef patties are made for McDonalds each day in New Zealand. Country Life joins farmers on a tour to see how meat they provide ends up in burgers.

Manawatu's Rural Innovation Lab will soon select and inject funding into three projects that could transform the primary sector.

The Pukekohe district in Auckland's south has had an unsettled week with rain and showers. Temperatures have been higher than expected in mid-July which means that crops are growing steadily. Central Otago sheep farmers are pre-lamb shearing.

PICMI is the brainchild of Tasman entrepreneur Genevieve Griffin-George. The cloud-based software is designed to simplify the employment process for agricultural seasonal staff. The 28-year-old came up with the concept after experiencing first-hand the challenges associated with hiring and managing seasonal staff at her family's kiwifruit orchard near Motueka.

Saving the Waipu Goat, Farmers Making Burgers, Wicked Problems - Rural Innovation Lab Seeks Solutions to Farming's Big Challenges, Connecting Seasonal Workers with Growers and the Regional Wrap.

When Jana Hocken moved from working as a business consultant in Brussels and Sydney to living on a Manawatu farm she couldn't believe the inefficiencies she saw in dairy farming. She's now practising what she preaches and she and her husband Mat have introduced 'Lean Manufacturing' principles to the farm to cut costs and waste and to keep staff happy.

Kaiwhaiki Pa is the largest pa on the Whanganui river. There are 40 homes, a marae and kohanga reo. Kahurangi Simon says growing up there has given him "everything". He says somehow he and his 11 siblings fitted into a two bedroom house. They loved eeling and whitebaiting in the river. He now lives in Whanganui city, but is aiming to return to live on the pa soon.

Jo Watson was homesick so she opened a quirky tea room in the middle of her home in rural Taranaki. There are crocheted blankets for knees, knitting needles to pick up, eight types of scones and crazy hats to wear.