Country Life

A massive shortage of seasonal labour that affected this year's apple harvest is now flowing on to kiwifruit. As that crop hits its peak harvesting time, they're short of over a thousand workers for both picking and packing.

Niki Guy-Junker lives nine kilometres from her letterbox in Central Otago. She grows most of the produce she needs to make ready-to-eat meals in her home kitchen for elderly people in Roxburgh, Clyde and Alexandra.

The rigours of shearing, Niki Guy Junker and her meal service and the labour shortage in our apple and Kiwfruit industries.

Rabbit numbers have exploded in Otago in the past year and Shaun Moloney is contracted to help farmers and grape growers get rid of them.

Hundreds of children around the country are competing in the AgriKids regional finals this month. The competition aims to promote the fun side of farming and help children develop practical skills.

Stephen Dickson's frank business name says it all. The Central Otago man employs dogs, ferrets and guns to combat the region's exploding rabbit population.

Simon Easton has a 60-hectare apple orchard in the Tasman region. He says every year it gets harder to find fruit pickers, but this year takes the cake.

The apple harvest is coming to an end in Hawke’s Bay and almost all the grapes are in. Early signs of winter appeared last weekend in Canterbury with a couple of light frosts. Farmers have been busy planting autumn wheat while ground conditions are dry.

Apple Angst, Stephen Dickson and his ferret Crank, The Return of the Rabbits, Future Farmers and the Regional Wrap.

Malcolm Smith and Robyn Curtis-Smith have transformed an abandoned West Coast gold mining valley into fertile farmland for their cattle. They've also built a house and a huge waterwheel that generates electricity for the farm.