Country Life

Mesh cover laid over potato crops is proving effective in controlling potato pests and reducing potato blight without chemical sprays.

The country's largest on-farm deer sale was held on High Peak Station, Mid Canterbury, this week and Edgecumbe farms are swamped. Much of the rest of the North Island is sodden too.

Bay of Plenty farmer Mike Mexted considers himself very lucky. He only has surface flooding on his farm and has been able to take in cows from an inundated dairy property a few kilometres away at Edgecumbe.

Awahou Stream Care Group, Potato Mesh Charles Merfield, Mike Mexted.

Danny Mickleson has spent 18 years breeding designer rams. They've been dubbed Taihape Tigers.

Adopting best-practice farming systems and fencing off streams to improve water quality are ongoing tasks for James Guild and his son Hamish who farm around the headwaters of the Selwyn River in Canterbury.

Bay of Plenty dairy farms are having a decent autumn but wet weather has interrupted the kiwifruit harvest. Grapes in Marlborough need more sun to ripen and in Southland store prices are on the rise so lambs are flooding into the works.

Day after day of grey, rainy weather in Hawkes Bay has meant sugar levels in some grape blocks are falling short of wineries' requirements and some growers have been told their grapes are not needed. The CEO of NZ Wine Philip Gregan says growers spend a lot of money producing their crops but there's no income unless they are picked.

High Peak Station, Taihape Tigers and biscuits for well-behaved horses.

Angela Broadbent baked for days to perfect a crunchy cookie for horses. She now sells three-quarters of a tonne each week.