Country Life

This 1975 Spectrum documentary follows a day in the life of rural Gisborne veterinarian, Mac Wallace. His day begins with a cow having trouble calving and ends at Turehau station, where a group of calves have mild scours and an old mare needs some attention.

Taranaki dairy farmer Cliff Shearer's practices may seem old-fashioned, but they've helped him make his way into the history books.

A large part of Brian Hales' farm recently sold and will soon go into pines. We caught up with the sheep and beef farmer, to find out what was happening to his flock of rare and exotic sheep breeds.

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy

This week Country Life catches up with a collector of rare and exotic sheep breeds who has just sold his farm, we learn about how a Taranaki dairy farmer's collection of antique farming books and detailed weather records helps him milk and breed his Jersey cows, and we dive into the archive for a look at life as a country vet in 1975.

The Norsewear factory in Norsewood is a community affair, with families, an entire volunteer fire brigade and neighbours working alongside each other over the decades. They have been celebrating 60 years since the classic flecked farm sock was first produced, and now have a new owner at the helm.

A series of dams to capture stormwater as it runs off the Port Hills are being constructed on farmland near Christchurch. It's the brainchild of Brent and Shirley Rawstron from Rossendale Wines, who are working with the Christchurch City Council to prevent flooding Early Valley.

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon in the Mackenzie District began experimenting with caviar three years ago and is in the midst of its short harvest period. Sally Murphy caught up with the company's chief executive David Cole.

A dry autumn will make for a tough winter for many farmers across the lower North Island, meanwhile it's made a great end to harvest with growers in Hawke's Bay and Marlborough busy pruning.

This week on Country Life, caviar being farmed in Mackenzie Country, a flood-prone vineyard in Canterbury which has created flood prevention basins to keep dry and a woollen sock company which is at the heart of the tiny town of Norsewood.

From a block of gorse-infected scrubland on Banks Peninsula, renowned botanist Hugh Wilson has spent half a lifetime growing Hinewai Reserve into a 1600-hectare paradise of regenerated native forest by leaving nature to it.

Blacksmith Jamie Hughes has a niche business crafting knives and hand-forged metalwork for chefs, farmers and tourists from his smithy in Norsewood. Tough economic times means he's feeling it from all angles like many small businesses in rural New Zealand.

Serena Lyders has found her calling as a traditional Māori healer, giving back to rural communities and working with shearers all around the motu.

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy

This week Country Life meets a traditional Māori healer helping shearers around the motu and things heat up in a blacksmith's forge in Norsewood. Later we explore a native forest that grew from rough, gorsey farmland and meet the botanist behind the impressive regeneration project.

Fifth generation dairy farmer Jason Christensen took a break from the family farm to try life as a DOC ranger. His experience in the world of conservation, evident on the Mt Bruce farm in the foothills of the Tararuas, saw him awarded two of this year's Greater Wellington Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

Country Life visits a food garden in Taranaki, where whānau are getting their hands in the soil and finding out how to sustain themselves from their own backyards.

Neil and Sandra Chesterton and their two sons escaped Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. The Inglewood vet was working for a charity there. He and Sandra chat to Country Life about helping vets in the country and their extraordinary departure.

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.

This week on Country Life we hear about a country vet's daring horseback escape from Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. We meet Pounamu Skelton who is on a mission to help Maori grow their own food and later we head to the foothills of the Tararuas, where a former DOC ranger has put his conservation background to use on the family dairy farm.