On Country Life old working dogs are given a new life, the programme's just clocked up its 1000th show ...we reminisce about some of the stories covered in that first year, Waipawa Butchery in Central Hawkes Bay.

In Horowhenua and it's hard to get any summer crops into the ground. Asparagus harvesting is underway but yields are down on last year. A good weather week in Canterbury has seen a flurry of activity on farms as things again dry out from a previously wet week.

Country Life first went to air in January 1997 - it was the year the rabbit calici virus was smuggled into the country and milk trains were trialled.

Farming couple Duncan Smith and Annabel Tapley-Smith took over the butcher's shop in the central Hawkes Bay town of Waipawa this July. They're selling beef and lamb from their farm just down the road and business is taking off.

In the past five years, Retired Working Dogs Adoption has rehomed hundreds of huntaways, eye dogs and beardies that are too old to work, have been injured or are just not up to the job.

Dr Shaun Forgie is a dung beetle expert specialising in dung beetle reproduction, ecology and evolution. His company, Dung Beetle Innovations, supplies farmers with dung beetle packages to assist with the removal of pastoral dung from agricultural livestock.

Miraka on the Move, Trees-a-Plenty, Country Pubs, Beetlemania and the Regional Wrap.

Hill country Wairarapa farmers are expecting grass growth to rocket away after recent rain. Calving is drawing to a close in Southland and lambing has settled down after a run of wet weather.

Red needle cast is a relatively new disease hitting pine plantations in New Zealand and retarding tree growth. Plant pathologist Dr. Nari Williams has been looking at ways to manage it.

Rangiora Nursery grows more four million tiny trees a year for high-quality forest and shelter tree cuttings. Owner Derrick Parry employs up to 60 seasonal workers at the busiest times.