Farming Conditions

On Central North island hill country farms second shearing continues and farmers are cracking on with maintenance. In Canterbury large numbers of dairy cows have moved from dairy farms to support… Audio

It's been foggy, frosty and wet in the North Island and belatedly the green kiwifruit harvest is starting to hum. Meanwhile in Central Otago, temperatures have been below zero and stock are being fed… Audio

The dairy season is coming to an abrupt halt in the North Island and in the South, winter's made an appearance. Audio

Rain arrived onto already wet pastures in the North Island and in the South, it's becoming too cold for the grass to grow in Central Otago. Audio

More dairy herds are being dried off, or slowed to once a day milking now and there's the first snow on some North Island ranges. Southland dairy farms are also moving down to 16-hour-a-day milking in… Audio

Lovely calm and sunny days, with cool nights, let North Island farmers and croppers get onto the land for cultivation or repair work, and the kiwifruit harvest had an uninterrupted week for a change… Audio

The North Island is drying out after the Easter rain, and cool temperatures are helping kiwifruit mature. The rams out in force on hill country farms in Marlborough and there's tons of feed around… Audio

Many North Island farms have saturated soils after a week of rain and in-between the downpours contractors are trying to harvest maize. In the South Island rain is destroying grape crops in Malborough… Audio

The country's largest on-farm deer sale was held on High Peak Station, Mid Canterbury, this week and Edgecumbe farms are swamped. Much of the rest of the North Island is sodden too. Audio

Bay of Plenty dairy farms are having a decent autumn but wet weather has interrupted the kiwifruit harvest. Grapes in Marlborough need more sun to ripen and in Southland store prices are on the rise… Audio

Maize is being harvested in Waikato and the first kiwifruit exports left for China this week. Marlborough farmers are busy setting up rotations around tupping blocks for ewes. In vineyards the bulk of… Audio

In Bay of Plenty the first of the Sun Gold kiwifruit are being harvested in sunny conditions. Kiwifruit are also being picked in Poverty Bay and Northland. On the West Coast of the South Island lots… Audio

Northland, Auckland and Coromandel were swamped in a one in 100 year deluge this week, while elsewhere in the North Island the rainfall was more gentle, welcome and has grass growth pumping. In the… Audio

The North Island is having a late summer and store lamb prices have increased, while in the South Island some farmers on the West Coast have turned their irrigation on! And a haze is in the air as mid… Audio

In orchards around the country apples are coming off thick and fast. Paddocks are greening up in front of farmers' eyes in the North Island but in the South Island, North Canterbury is worryingly dry.

The North Island has had soaking good rain this week. Dairy cow pregnangy rates are generally down this season, between 15 to 20% are empty. In Central Otago high country weaning is in full swing and… Audio

Rain's fallen in Northland, East Coast and Hawkes Bay, but follow-up is crucial and the drought's not broken. In the South Island farmers in South Canterbury and central Otago have plenty of… Audio

Hawkes Bay is worryingly dry but it's been hosing down in Taranaki. In Mid-Canterbury arable farmers have been harvesting grass seed this week. Audio

It's been exceedingly windy over the whole of the North Island for the past three months, Northland and the East Coast and Hawkes Bay are getting very very dry, while the West Coast of the South… Audio

Ewes are being dagged and shorn in Southland and everyone's trying to get their lambs to the works before Christmas. In the North Island maize is finally growing well and the order has gone out for… Audio