Country Life

This week Country Life is at the Wayleggo Cup, a trans Tasman sheep dog trial, meets a record-breaking Angus bull-breeder and opens the door on an unusual business finding opportunity and bringing thrills to a rural main street.

How do sheepdogs and handling techniques vary between New Zealand and Australia? The best teams battle it out at a Trans-Tasman dog trial contest.

Tangihau Angus near Gisborne has a habit of breaking records. Last year it set the top price for New Zealand bulls at $135,000. This year it's done it again setting a new record price of $161,000.

How an unusual business selling adult toys has found opportunity on the main street of Eketāhuna

A round up of conditions on farms and orchards around the country

Country Life visits two farms embracing agritourism - a Bay of Plenty avocado grower and a Hawke's Bay hill country station offering farm walks. The team also steps into an enviro-friendly greenhouse growing year-round lettuces at scale.

Set on the coast of Hawke's Bay, Te Aratipi Station offers walkers on the farm views across the bay, from the Māhia Peninsula right around to Mt Ruapehu on a clear day.

Tour groups gather under the huge avocado trees belonging to orchardists Tim Rosamond and Michele Ricou to learn about the fruit and how its grown. The IT pros are relatively new growers and see agritourism as an important part of the venture.

Since officially opening last April, Leaderbrand's Future Farms facility has allowed them to grow salad greens all year round.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

This week's Country Life is all about tech and science - from cutting edge ag drone, to collecting sheep poo samples to be processed in the lab as part of a national study, and the team helping breed the kiwifruit of tomorrow.

It takes years to perfect cultivars and to keep New Zealand's kiwifruit industry ahead of the game. Country Life takes a tour of the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre in Te Puke and meets those helping create the fruit of the future.

Wairarapa sheep farmer Paul Crick is one of hundreds out collecting poo samples from his flock as part of a national study testing for the presence of spores which cause facial eczema in sheep.

Two King Country farmers have trained up as drone operators to offer on-farm drone spraying services, a side hustle alongside their traditional farming work.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.