RNZ: Country Life

Mike Peterson is the Ravensdown Agricultural Communicator of the Year for 2018. Mike is New Zealand's Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, a role he's held for five years.

Meet exhibitors who've attended all 50 National Ag Fieldays, KPMG releases its 2018 Agribusiness Agenda, Mike Petersen Ravensdown Ag Communicator of the Year.  

Errol Wood and Kelvin Nicolle believe that the best way for today's teenagers to learn about the environment is to be in the environment. They run environmental outreach programme for school and community groups in Canterbury.

Spring Sheep Milk is setting up two sheep milking pilot farms in Waikato. One is a greenfield development, one a cow farm conversion.

Brett Worthington talks about Canadian dairy giant Saputo taking over the last dairy co-op in Australia, fine wool prices and drought.

Parts of Waikato had 100 millimetres of rain at the weekend and there was surface flooding. Pruning is underway on all fruit crops in the Nelson / Motueka region.

Last week's torrential rain dumped one million tonnes of forest debris on Tolaga Bay farms. Even mature trees wouldn't have stayed standing in those conditions, forest experts say.

Stream of Consciousness, Milking It: From Cows to Sheep, ABC Rural Correspondent,   A River of Debris and the Regional Wrap.

No-one really knew if the Hauraki Rail Trail would be successful, but now the trail's hub town Paeroa has a new motel,  new cafes and cycle rental businesses.

Canterbury vet Jim McPhee runs a Dorper sheep stud on his small farm near Darfield. The meat-focused Dorper is attracting interest from farmers because the breed sheds their own wool, which eliminates the cost of shearing.

Disappointing apricots could be a thing of the past thanks to the work of Plant and Food Research scientists in Clyde. They're breeding new apricot cultivars that should be a hit with both consumers and growers.

Apple pruning is well underway in Hawkes Bay in cold but excellent conditions. Winter has arrived in Canterbury bringing with it frosts and snow on the mountains.

Ken Eade milks 550 cows with his son Bruce at Kelso in West Otago. Like most other dairy farmers he is concerned about the spread of Mycoplasma Bovis and the potential impact it will have on the family business.

Hauraki Cycle Trail, Developing Dorpers, Concern for Calves, Luscious Apricots and the Regional Wrap.

Raquel Walker's equestrian performance coach Jeanette Garrett created a programme that enabled the disabled rider from Motueka to compete in last year's Special Olympics. She won a silver and two bronze medals.