Country Calendar

A Northland dairy farming family breaks with convention and rears the calves that aren't destined to join the herd. They do it by running a beef farm alongside their dairy unit.

A Bay of Plenty family are among the last in New Zealand with a commercial permit for drag-netting. They've been using the traditional fishing method for nearly 100 years.

A woman achieves her dream of living off the land by moving to New Zealand. Her parents wanted her to lead a city life in Zurich, but Meret Horlacher knew her destiny was elsewhere.

A dairy farming family turn their backs on large-scale production and use their milk to make gourmet cheese. What started as a hobby has become an award-winning business.

A couple develop a way to grow Bluff oysters on ropes hung in the sea, the way mussels are farmed. Their Stewart Island business is booming and international interest is growing.

Becca got her first working dog at nine-years-old and ever since, she's wanted to be a farmer. Now she's achieved her dream.

A young woman from Paris adjusts to life on a salmon farm in a remote part of Westland. Alice now loves jet-boating and horse-riding and doesn't miss her former life in the city.

When an entrepreneurial couple couldn't find good organic compost for their lettuce crop, they decided to make their own and it has led to a thriving business on their Waihi farm.

A team of people spend most of their time in remote bush hunting pests like goats and deer for DOC and regional councils. Country Calendar joins them in north-west Nelson.

Meet a couple who grow roses and work hard to ensure their finest blooms are in peak condition to sell on St Valentine's Day.

Mark Shadbolt is a driving force behind Banks Peninsula Farms, a group of forty four local farmers who've banded together to market and sell their Romney wool overseas.

A Sydney-based corporate high-flier comes home to run the family farm when her father dies suddenly. Many locals thought Jacquetta Ward wouldn't cope, but she and the farm are both thriving.

A couple develop a new business harvesting seaweed so they can achieve their dream of living in a Bay of Plenty community where jobs are scarce.

A couple achieve their dream of buying a big hill-country station and are rewarded with top prices in the sale ring. As a bonus, their Wairarapa farm offers glorious coastal views and great fishing.

A couple fall in love with a farm on the Whanganui River that can be accessed only by jet-boat. They build up a tourism business to supplement the income they get from grazing cattle.

A couple expand their sheep farm by growing peacherines, a delicious cross between a peach and a nectarine. The business proves successful and provides employment for dozens of locals.

Team building is the driving force on a big Landcorp sheep and beef farm in the King Country. Manager Alan MacDonald gives his mainly youthful staff a chance to develop their skills.

Native birds have as much importance as sheep and beef on a Kaipara farm where two generations of a family are committed to raising a future generation of Brown Kiwi.

Engineer Otto Muller is supposed to have retired long ago but the 90-year-old is still full of innovative plans to expand his Central Otago walnut orchard.

A big sheep, cattle and deer farm welcomes people cycling the Central Otago Rail Trail. The Duncan family says the trail is the biggest change that's happened in their 110 years on the land.

A Northland dairying couple farm to fit in with the environment. They feed their herd on waste from Auckland food outlets and recycle effluent onto the land to minimise fertiliser use.

Wairoa Farmer Sheena Martin played with the farm pups at two years old and owned a dog at six. Today, sheco-owns a large team of working dogs and goes away dog-trialling most weekends.

A helicopter pilot musters stock and hunts wild deer in some of Central Otago's most scenic high country. The money he earns goes into developing his own farm in the Cardrona Valley.

A couple run a successful sport horse stud near Nelson Lakes, where they breed horses for eventing, jumping, hunting and the show ring.

A Gisborne couple extend the capacity of their hill country farm by improving the fences. And when they have a day in town, they go off with a roar in their 1962 Chevy.

A bee enthusiast aims to reverse declining numbers by encouraging others to become part-time beekeepers. He says bees are essential if agriculture is to thrive.

A farming couple take on the daunting task of taming wild horses mustered from the Kaimanawa Ranges. Without their intervention, the ponies would face a grim future.

The Wellington wind turns from a liability into an asset for farmers when they encourage the development of a wind farm on their land above Cook Strait.

This episode has no summary.

Series Final: Six generations of a family have run a big Wairarapa farm, mainly focused on sheep and beef. After more than 160 years, they feel so strongly linked to the land that they could never sell it.