Country Life

This week producer Cosmo Kentish-Barnes is in his wet weather gear in the Tasman district meeting farmers and other rural residents, still battered and bruised from one catastrophic weather event, staring down the barrel of another deluge.

As a second weather bomb lashed the Tasman region, Cosmo Kentish-Barnes was on the ground with farmers and rural people, still battered and bruised from the first flood and staring down the barrel of another deluge.

A wrap of the week's news from RNZ's rural news desk

This week Country Life follows the trail of food scraps from the table to farms with the City to Farm project north of Auckland, meets two young farming-focused youngsters at the top of their game, and dips into the archives to head to a working farm dog sale.

Food scraps from retirement villages and schools are helping to nourish a banana orchard and other farms via the City to Farm project, which aims to keep organic waste out of landfill and help curb climate change.

A dip into the archives when Cosmo Kentish-Barnes attended the 64th annual Ashburton cattle and sheep dog sale to find out what these hard-working dogs are worth.

Rangiora High School students John Lundy and Harry Parish were awarded one of New Zealand's top primary sector accolades at last weekend's FMG Junior Young Farmer of the Year Grand Final in Southland.

A wrap of news from the rural news desk

This week Country Life returns to a vegetable farm to see whether it's radical plan to feed the community is working and looks at plans for plastic waste on farm. And the team meet a animal advocate who has turned her rural property in North Canterbury into a haven for rescued farm animals.

Sharlene Wilson has turned her rural property in North Canterbury into a haven for rescued farm animals who find healing, freedom and a place to truly belong.

Crooked Vege's pay-what-you-can model for its vege boxes may have been a radical idea two years ago but it's plan seems to be working. The small farm has had its challenges, though.

Agrecovery's seen huge growth in the 20 years it's been operating, with those in the primary sector looking for new ways to recycle on-farm plastic. "We know the farmers and growers are wanting solutions."

Country Life speaks to farmers and growers around New Zealand to find out about growing conditions over the past month.

This week Country Life dives underground to take a closer look at soils, from Canterbury farmers using the Japanese Bokashi system to a market gardener making garden beds as rich as chocolate cake in Taranaki. We also unpack the recently announced biodiversity credits.

Over the past 20 years, Jodi Roebuck and his wife Tanya have turned a bare paddock into a thriving market garden with an emphasis on microgreens, teachers others from around the world how to do the same.