Country Life

At the recent Rural Games in Palmerston North events including olive-stone spitting and egg throwing and catching, along with speed tree climbing, speed shearing and gumboot throwing.

Geoff Copstick, a Northland angora goat farmer, is also chairman of international aid agency ChildFund NZ. He says his rural roots mean he has a lot in common with aid projects involving animals and farming.

Seventeen years ago, the blueberry-growing Furniss family found out colour-sorting machines cost $1 million to import, so they had a crack at making one. Now their sorting machine business has a $30 million turnover and exports to 29 countries.

Maize is being harvested in Waikato and the first kiwifruit exports left for China this week. Marlborough farmers are busy setting up rotations around tupping blocks for ewes. In vineyards the bulk of the grape crop needs two more weeks of sun to ripen.

Robert Gardyne, a sheep farmer from Oturehua in Central Otago, was crowned lamb Producer of the Decade at the recent Beef and Lamb New Zealand Golden Lamb Awards, aka the Glammies.

Country Life this week's throwing gumboots at the rural games, is sorting blueberries and meets the angora farmer who chairs Child Fund in New Zealand.

Country Life visits two families at Conway Flat who run a private hill country walkway leading from windy hilltops to the cliffed coastline which connects their sheep and beef farms.

Fieke and Ben Meyer moved to NZ in 1984 and began introducing the people of Waikato to gouda cheese. Thirty-three years later, three of their children work in the family business.

In Bay of Plenty the first of the Sun Gold kiwifruit are being harvested in sunny conditions. Kiwifruit are also being picked in Poverty Bay and Northland. On the West Coast of the South Island lots of silage is being made, paddocks are being cultivated and remedial work on damaged pasture is underway.

Tim and Sue Anderson have run Mt Guardian Perendales on their farm at Conway Flat since the mid '60s. Their son Woody is keen to take over the stud when his parents retire.