Country Life

Bay of Plenty farmers have had a kind winter, it is not too wet and they have very good pasture covers. Calving should begin in earnest next week. It has been another stunning week in Canterbury with dry and mild conditions which have allowed some farmers to get onto paddocks and start preparing them for spring crops.

The New Zealand kiwifruit industry started in 1904 when a woman brought in a handful of seeds after visiting her brother, a missionary, in China. Now the industry is worth $2.3 billion. Elaine Fisher's book, Seeds of Success, tells the stories of the kiwifruit industry's pioneers.

Working Smarter not Harder - the Lean Approach to Dairying, Under FiveHundy: Kaiwhaiki Pā, Urenui Old Town Hall Cafe and Tea Room, Seeds of Success - the Stories of the Kiwifruit Industry's Pioneers and the Regional Wrap.

Jessica Cooke was a personal trainer in Christchurch before returning home to Banks Peninsula six years ago to take over her mother's floriculture business on the family's steep seven hectare property at Barry's Bay.

Waiuku-based company Future Post blends granulated soft plastics with chipped up milk bottles to produce sturdy recyclable fence posts.

Farmers in Northland are in good spirits because they've hardly had to put on their wet weather gear. Canterbury's had another amazing weather week with the temperature gauge nudging 20 degrees on Wednesday. The first spring lambs are appearing nearer the coast.

Colin van der Geest is dairy farmer based on the West Coast. He spoke to RNZ's Maja Burry about why he made the decision to back the sale of Westland Milk Products to China's Yili conglomerate.

Flower Power on the Peninsula, Plastic Posts, Westland Woes and the Regional Wrap.

White Star Station has been in the Evans family for 155 years. Now the seventh generation is living on the Colville farm. Today you'll find hereford cattle, sheep, tourist accommodation, a horse-trekking venture and a honey business on the farm but, over the years, dairy cows, goats, deer and pigs have been farmed there. The farm's also had its own timber mill and goldmine.

A Plant and Food Research principal scientist says measuring devices that look like giant rain gauges have been buried under crops all around the country to track the amount of nitrogen flowing into ground water.