RNZ: Country Life

Zealong Tea is New Zealand's only tea producer. Country Life re-visits the Waikato tea plantation after almost five years in production to find out who is drinking our tea.

When the drought finally breaks farmers are being warned not to drive down hillsides which they've casually been going up and down for months, because the hard earth pan with extra moisture becomes like ice and brakes don't grip.

The North Island continues in its parched state, while in the South Island, Southland is a green oasis.

Great winemaking goes hand in hand with eco-friendly grape growing for entrepreneur Peter Yealands, whose goal is to make his Marlborough based Yealands Estate Vineyard the most environmentally sustainable in the world.

Bevan Galbraith from Te Pahu, a small settlement near Waikato's Mount Pirongia, makes ukuleles from a wide range of native timbers and he reckons it's the best wood in the world to use for his instruments.

Announcements about Biodiesel

Doug Brooks is a director of Te Rua o Te Moko which oversees five blocks of Maori land in South Taranaki. In collaboration with the Landbased Training Centre they're running a course on the land to help young Maori take up farming as a career.

The dry conditions continue to bite.

Northland couple Ellen and Mike Bennett have turned their 400 hectare working dairy farm at Whangaruru near Russell into the equivalent of an "open house". Backpackers, Woofers, kiwi holiday makers and more recently school groups, have been experiencing what life on a farm is all about. They also run holiday programmes: the Mean As Boys Camp and Sweet As Girls Camp.

The farmer-owned company Wools of New Zealand is asking strong wool growers to buy shares to allow it to build supply-chains and develop marketing opportunities. With Chairman and Banks Peninsula sheep farmer Mark Shadbolt.

Fish & Game's South Island communications advisor, Andrew Currie,

Some rain has fallen in the North Island but more is needed.The pear harvest is about to start at the top of the South.

Terrance and Lyn Windle are passionate about Boer Goats. They sell stud animals to other breeders and surplus finished goats are sold to Christchurch's ethnic community.

Hawkes Bay Farmer David Hunt describes how living with depression has impacted on his life and farming operation.

A selection of agricultural news from the week. For further rural news go to the Radio New Zealand website.