Country

Parts of the North Island have had sweltering temperatures this week but Horowhenua has been cool and gloomy. Audio

Fruit growing roots run deep in the Gilchrist family – with Jack joining forces with his grandad John to become a fifth-generation orchardist on the slopes of the mighty Clutha River. Audio

Fonterra's announcement of a lift in the dairy payout has been just the tonic farmers needed as they come out of a tiring, wet spring. Marlborough farmers should be drafting lambs and cattle now but… Audio

Top of the South Rural Support Trust co-ordinator Ian Blair's priority is to get to isolated families. The main issues arising from the earthquake have been food, sanitation, power and communication.

Winemaker Rudi Bauer's mission is to make wines that capture the essence of Central Otago. In 1996 he established the Quartz Reef biodynamic vineyard on the north-facing lower hills of Bendigo Station… Audio

Wi Pere Trust in Gisborne has a mixed portfolio of horticultural crops from kiwifruit to oranges, mandarins, grapes and persimmons. The Trust is looking at expanding its citrus because of market… Audio

Ursula Hayward and her husband Mark have recently won an award for a new tube feeder for calves that removes some of the stress of the procedure and reduces the chance of injury. Audio

North Island calves and lambs need more sun on their backs and, in the South Island, Otago is having a great spring. Audio

A one-thousand dollar reward is being offered for the Red Vented Bulbul. An unwanted pest, the bird may have taken up residence in the Bay of Plenty. Audio

She’s only 18, but she’s already recorded and released her first album and is about to tour the country for the first time with her country and folk tunes. Candice Milner hails from Lyttelton and… Audio

Singer-songwriter Mel Parsons makes a mixtape of favourites and talks about her roots in the shearing sheds of Westport. Audio

Engelbert Humperdinck is 80 and still touring and packing them in. Next year he celebrates fifty years since he changed his name from Gerry Dorsey to that of a nineteenth century classical composer… Video, Audio

Lyttelton darling Marlon Williams is back at home, fresh from playing on Conan O'Brien's late night show in the US. Williams premieres a new song and pays tribute to Ralph Stanley.  Video, Audio, Gallery