Farming Conditions

Hawkes Bay is looking for rain to freshen things up and get autumn growth moving. There is plenty of feed on farms but it is not good quality. Calf sales have got underway in South Otago and prices… Audio

Paddocks are greening up in many North Island places while in the South Island Marlborough is going quickly from brown to green. Audio

In Bay of Plenty the kiwifruit export picking season has started, and, for the first time ever, Zespri will pack more gold kiwifruit than green this season. Marlborough farms are looking a picture… Audio

Beautiful gentle rain has been falling in King Country and Nelson/Mouteka has had a good dose too. Audio

The tomato harvest is coming to an end in Gisborne, maize silage is being cut across the North Island and in south Otago, shearing continues. Audio

Even previously green areas in the North Island are suddenly looking very dry. Southland's still got green grass and crops are growing, but all farmers, and some orchardists, want the predicted rain… Audio

Coastal North Taranaki is very dry. There's a lot of feeding out taking place and, because of the shortage of feed, animals are being culled. Another hot dry week in Mid-Canterbury's allowed arable… Audio

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The North Island is generally coping well with the summer conditions, but in the South Island the Tasman district and Eastern Marlborough are very dry. Irrigation supplies are… Audio

Both the North and South Islands have been dripping under sweltering temperatures but generally the North Island farms have good amounts of feed. In Canterbury spring barley is going off for Gladfield… Audio

What's happening on farms and orchards around New Zealand? Each week Radio New Zealand’s Country Life reporters talk to people in rural areas across the country to find out. Audio

Taranaki is well set up. There's been plenty of rain and lots of silage and hay cut. Milk production is about 7 percent. In Southland there's heaps of baleage being made and everyone's getting the… Audio

Taranaki is looking very green and farmers are complaining that it's harder to manage a surplus of feed than a deficit. Milk production is about 7 percent ahead of last season. Artifical insemination… Audio

In the Bay of Plenty, kiwifruit orchard bees are pretty well all through their pollination work. Some places here got well over 100mm of rain this week. Contractors on the West Coast are flatstick… Audio

Mainly light winds with some sunshine and showers graced South Auckland. Ideal conditions for strong growth of outdoor crops and the transplanting of new ones. Lamb growth has slowed with the poor… Audio

Rain in Wairarapa has set the region up for December, but pumps are draining floodwater from Taieri farms in the South Island. Audio

Gisborne farmers are thrilled with the prices they're receiving for their lambs - $140 dollars straight off their mothers. Southland arable farmers need the rain to stop. Audio

Bay of Plenty's had glorious days. Silage is being cut here too, there's plenty of grass around. The West Coast is mopping up after a deluge. Queenstown had snow in the hills and then 22 degree days.

South Auckland received 50 millimetres or more of rain. It was most welcome but delayed spuds, onion and carrot harvesting. It's been a typical wet and windy October for coastal Southland. It's a… Audio

The North Island is desperately waiting for rain while snow fell on Central Otago ranges. Welcome rain arrived in many South Island regions, but more is needed. Audio

In Waikato cows are milking well, maize is going in, silage is being cut, asparagus is shooting away. Farmers in South Otago are preparing paddocks for winter crops. Audio