Country Life

Sitting in solitude at the foot of the Dunstan Range and looking out over the Manuherikia Valley, the Drybread Cemetery was run-down until local farmers Tony and Karen Glassford and Ross Naylor decided to bring it back to life. They run a trust that has raised money for fencing, repairing damaged graves and making the historic site accessible. About 165 people are known to be interred at the cemetery, the first being one-year-old Thomas Greenback who drowned on February 28, 1870 in a race built for bringing water to a goldmine.

Organic farmer Bev Trowbridge believes biological and organic farmers are still viewed as a bit 'whacky' in New Zealand.

Good sized yardings of cattle are coming forward in the North Island now the grass is starting to grow. Prices are high. New season store lambs are also fetching high prices which is surprising when some commentators are saying the export schedule will drop this year.

Our guest this week is NIWA's principal scientist Chris Brandolino who's updating us on soil moisture conditions and what we can expect through to the end of the year.

It's been mild around the North Island, early maize is popping up and the weather's improved for general tractor work on paddocks. In the South Island wonderful rain has fallen in drought hit North Canterbury, although aquifers are still not replenished.

Georgina Lyndsay is CRV Ambreed's Scholarship winner for 2016.The scholarship was established in 2010 to support and encourage Lincoln and Massey students with interests in animal husbandry, animal genetics, farm management and environmental sustainability to work in New Zealand's dairy industry.

Just west of Matata on the sweeping Bay of Plenty coastline you'll find an old-fashioned Kiwi camping ground that's been in the same family for 51 years.

Clandon Daffodils grows more than a million stems of daffodils each year. The classic yellow daffodil is always a top seller but there are hundreds of other commercial varieties and hundreds more seen only at flower shows.

Wellsford farmer Gordon Levet didn't take much notice of one of his cows - until she started producing triplets.

Orchard waste from around Central Otago feeds millions of composting worms at Robbie Dick's worm farm in Cromwell. The worms convert tonnes of edible waste into castings manure, an organic compost ideal for growing plants, and are also sold to plumbers for composting toilets.