Country Life meets Berwick Settle who's worked on huge dairy farms in Russia and China, joins a shearing gang for a day and finds out about the world of heritage seed saving.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

In this episode:

• 0:30 - A kiwi's life in the world's largest dairy farms
• 9:30 - Rural News Wrap
• 15:23 - From the Archive: Sheep on the board
• 35:31 - Saving seeds, saving stories

With thanks to:

• Berwick Settle
• Jemma Ostenfeld
• Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

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In this story for the long-running programme Spectrum, first broadcast in 1972, Jack Perkins joins a Wairarapa shearing gang, on a farm near Masterton. It starts at the beginning of a day's shearing, with sounds of sheep in the yards, dogs barking and shepherd's whistling.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

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A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

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There's a story to many of the heritage seedlings which Jemma Ostenfeld grows on a patch of borrowed land in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Jemma Ostenfeld

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Twenty years ago Berwick Settle was a Southland sharemilker. Since then he's worked in some of the biggest dairy farms in the world, helping set up farms in China and Russia where cows live year round in huge barns, a far cry from New Zealand's pastoral system.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Berwick Settle

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This week Country Life learns more about LIC's project to breed bulls which emit less methane, while a Waikato sheep farmer does the same, using genetics to reduce emissions. Also, from the future to the past, step back in time with the volunteers at Eketāhuna Museum.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

In this episode:

• 0:45 - On the Farm
• 8:17 - A 'numbers game': LIC's quest to breed low methane emitting bulls
• 18:00 - Breeding the 'wagyu of lamb' for an every-changing farm environment
• 32:49 - Eketāhuna Museum - keeper of the community's stories

With thanks to:

• Dr Lorna McNaughton, LIC
• Alastair Reeves, Waimai Romney
• Bruce Laurence, Chris Petersen, Ian Day, and Bridget Ferguson, Eketāhuna Museum

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Send us your feedback or get in touch at [email protected]

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Volunteers at the Eketāhuna Museum are getting ready to reopen. This treasure chest of curiosities shines a light on the small town's Scandinavian heritage and the challenges of running a country museum.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

You can read more about the Eketāhuna Museum, here.

With thanks to:

• Bruce Laurence, Chris Petersen, Ian Day, and Bridget Ferguson

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Alastair Reeves has followed in his father's footsteps, using genetics to help farmers solve problems on farm by breeding sheep that make for good eating, are tolerant of facial eczema and emit lower amounts of methane.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

You can learn more about Waimai Romney, here.

With thanks to:

• Alastair Reeves

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The team of scientists at LIC, the Livestock Improvement Corporation, hope to know by late next year if they can offer farmers more methane-friendly bulls.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

You can learn more about LIC, here.

With thanks to:

• Dr Lorna McNaughton

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A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

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