Temperatures plummeted in Canterbury this week from near 40 degrees to 2 on Friday morning. Hawke's Bay grape growers have had heat and rain when they've needed it this summer.

Fionnuala Reynolds has spent the summer checking the quality of cherries coming off trees in Alexandra.

Wine sales lift after people staying at home in the US and UK reach for a bottle from Marlborough, one look at a log and wood worker Greg Taylor knows what he should make from it, wool-less sheep are in hot demand, and the Regional Wrap.

Work has finally started to restore an old wharf at Tokomaru Bay on the East Cape. A committed band of locals has been working for years to raise money for the rebuild which they hope will reinvigorate the town.

Rangiora's Luisetti Seeds' warehouses, seed clearing facilities and silos are a constant reminder to locals of the town's long agricultural history. The family business was established by Vincent Luisetti in 1932 and while it may be 88 years old, the company is in expansion-mode and is investing in state-of-the art seed cleaning technology.

In January Tararua farmer Mel Poulton took over as New Zealand's special agricultural trade envoy. She'd typically be advocating for New Zealand's farmers and products overseas - but she's had to do that job in front of a computer. She says NZ exporters are well set to cope with Brexit, whatever the announcement is on Sunday.

Stock need sun on their back with more than enough rain in the north, vines are spurting along in Marlborough and Hawkes Bay and farmers are fighting to maintain pasture quality in Southland.

When Country Life visited North Canterbury vegetable grower Cam Booker two years ago he was getting into selling vege boxes. This year sales sky-rocketed over the Covid-19 lockdown and he says local Farmers' Market sales have bounced back nicely since then too. On Christmas Eve he's hosting a dig-your-own potato event at the Sefton market garden.

Country Life visits Tokomaru Bay where locals have banded together to save their historic wharf. Cosmo pops in to Luisetti Seeds in Rangiora which is still going strong after Vincent Luisetti started it back in 1932 and he talks to Cam Booker whose vege boxes are bouncing out the door. Also, NZ's special agricultural trade envoy looks back on the year.

Soiling your undies isn't normally encouraged, unless it's for the good of science! Students from six North Otago schools are undertaking a number of activities to assess soil health in their schools. One of the activities is burying cotton undies for six weeks to see how much they degrade. The more degraded the healthier the soil.