Farming Conditions

Docking has continued in King Country this week between the showers and despite muddy tracks and puddles in gateways. Wairarapa is looking lush, The planting of fodder beet and barley crops is… Audio

In Horowhenua and it's hard to get any summer crops into the ground. Asparagus harvesting is underway but yields are down on last year. A good weather week in Canterbury has seen a flurry of activity… Audio

Hill country Wairarapa farmers are expecting grass growth to rocket away after recent rain. Calving is drawing to a close in Southland and lambing has settled down after a run of wet weather. Audio

Canterbury is drying out, allowing crops to be planted and paddocks that were in Kale and Beet cultivated. The North Island had a very warm end to the week. Audio

The North Island is still swimming in water with regular heavy downpours, but ground temperatures are picking up. Temperatures are moving up in the South Island too, but the West Coast had a horror… Audio

Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchardists are struggling to complete winter work because of the rain, but daffodils are looking cheerful on roadsides. There's been flurry of activity on arable farms in… Audio

Wet conditions on Marlborough farms are making it hard to get the lambs docked and brilliant sunshine has graced much of the North Island. Audio

It's sounding like a broken record, but apart from Hawkes Bay and East Coast, it's still exceedingly wet everywhere in the North Island. The South Island's also very wet apart from South Otago and… Audio

The North Island's still totally over flowing with water and in the South Island, Marlborough farms are well into lambing while those in Southland are just starting. Audio

Calving's an incredibly busy time on farm but Carol Stiles manages to sneak a few minutes with vet Steve Harkness while he's working on a 1,000-cow Waikato farm. Audio

The North Island's had a string of crispy frosty mornings which is helping dry out water logged pastures and lifting farmers' spirits. Calving is in full swing in Canterbury. Sheep farmers in Central… Audio

The entire North Island remains totally water logged. The wet conditions are putting stress on all types of farming. Only five millimetres of rain turns soils to bogs. West Coast farmers are getting… Audio

The East Coast soils are absolutely chocker with water, especially on the flats, which are of minimal value for grazing. Canterbury's very wet too and there's and at least 100 millimetres of rain's… Audio

Areas of Manawatu that never see snow received up to 15 centimetres on Thursday, Rotorua city had snow flurries, and outlying areas like Mamaku and Rerewhikaaitu had heavy snow on the ground.  Flood… Audio

Northland continues to be very wet making ground conditions difficult particularly with calving now underway. In Canterbury prices for top sheep and cattle dogs have remained strong at the 61st annual… Audio, Gallery

Frosty conditions have hit the North Island this week, but despite very little rain, conditions underfoot are extremely mushy. Canterbury dairy farmers are busy heavy rolling their dairy platforms… Audio

In Canterbury it's been dry enough for stock to make good use of feed and even put on condition. Most of the North Island had a good dollop of rain late in the week. Audio

The price of kumara has shot up because a bad growing season, coupled with appalling weather during the main harvest time in autumn, has seen a 35% drop in volume compared with normal years. Heavy… Audio

Mild, calm weather has been good for vegetable crops in the Pukekohe district and in Otago, electric pruners are chopping through the work in apricot orchards. Audio