In Waikato a dairy consultant says it's been the best winter he can remember. A good week of weather in Canterbury has allowed cropping farmers to get on with planting spring barley.

Serving up Salmon, The Healing Power of Sheep, A New Chair for the Farmers' Markets Association and the Regional Wrap.

Dave and Anne Jordan say the world would benefit from the widespread planting and use of hemp. They have been working for more than a decade to build a hemp industry in New Zealand.

Liz Duke is the riders co-ordinator and head coach at North Canterbury Riding for the Disabled. Her team of equine volunteers provide riding activities that increase the ability, strength and confidence of people with physical, intellectual, emotional and social challenges. Liz says they often find that the relation with a pony is one of the best things that happens with a rider who has a disability. The local group owns several horses that live on 25 hectares of leased land near Rangiora.

Agricultural economist Barnett Sporkin-Morrison says there's been a growth in the availability of alternative proteins in the United States but not a wholsale shift away from meat. He says consumers are taking a 'flexitarian' approach often choosing to eat the new products sometimes but not always.

It's been wet and warm in northern parts of the North Island. Lambs are appearing in Canterbury and calving is in full swing on dairy farms.

A Helping Hand from Hemp, Riding High in the Saddle, Alternative Proteins - What's at Steak? and the Regional Wrap.

Outspoken Southland farmer Ray McCrostie is on a quest to better understand and improve the land under his gumboots. He's lending a hand to Clint Rissman, a scientist who used to work for Environment Southland and automation engineer Richard Dean, who are developing a low cost, portable water-quality monitoring station for farmers. The trio have identified a drain on Mr McCrostie's farm in the Waituna Catchment as the perfect spot to test the prototype system.

Richard Logan has buried "anything on two legs or more" – from emus, huge bulls and llamas to racehorses, Clydesdales, sheep, donkeys and dogs.

Greg Jerry is spending up to $15,000 a month to feed the remaining stock on his farm in north west NSW. He dreads what he will find when he goes out onto the farm each day.