Country calendar : stories from our rural heartland / Matt Philp & Rob Suisted.

"Celebrating 50 years"--Cover.

"TVNZ."

Introduction : the story of Country calendar -- Milk and water : Stu Muir and his family ... are completely committed to running a high-tech, innovative and sustainable dairy farm -- Shear hard slog : Emily Welch, with her husband Sam, are world-champion shearers, and from their farm in the Waikato run a shearing contracting business and a tourism business -- Hard yakka : Colin and Marg Bayes have carved out a farm on hard, marginal country inland from Wairoa ... [and] also run a guided deer-hunting business -- A place to stand : Atihau Incorporation, near Ohakune, run a large, tribally-owned farm that also incorporates a training course for young Maori from their iwi -- Flying farmer : Matt Newton is a Taranaki helicopter pilot and the owner of a helicopter company -- Nitrogen bomb : Mike and Sharon Barton are beef farmers above the shores of Lake Taupo, faced with the enormous challenge of controlling nitrogen run-off into the lake -- Here to stay : the Matthews family have been farming on Waiorongomai Station in the Wairarapa for 160 years -- Surf and turf : Tony Muollo grew up as part of Wellington's Island Bay cray fishing community, a 100-year tradition that began with early Italian immigrants -- Where hills meet sea : Georgie and Scott Archbold manage Te Kuta Station, near French Pass in the Marlborough Sounds -- Drought breaker : Doug Avery is a nationally recognised pioneer of growing lucerne, one innovative way of viably farming the drought-prone country on the east coast of the South Island -- A wild card : Roger Beattie from Banks Peninsula has a multi-faceted farming operation that involves farming Pitt Island wild sheep, trying to farm buff weka, and harvesting kelp and paua pearls in Akaroa Harbour -- Picking winners : the Hinton family have been growing fruit near Alexandra in Central Otago since 1910 -- Autumn muster : James and Georgina Murray manage the remote Branches Station in the headwaters of the Shotover River behind Queenstown -- Taste of the land : Rippon Vineyard on the shores of Lake Wanaka ... produces highly rated wine, using biodynamic principles -- Harvest from the tide : Roger Belton has developed from nothing a significant business sustainably harvesting littleneck clams in the harbours and bays around Dunedin.

"From its first field report in a Central Otago apricot orchard in 1966, and broadcast as a 14-minute news show primarily for farmers, Country Calendar is now New Zealand's longest-running television series, with more than half a million people tuning in every week. This year saw Country Calendar turn 50, and this book celebrates this milestone by revisiting 15 families who have appeared on the show during the last decade - and, in some cases, whose properties have featured two or three times during the last 50 years. The featured stories all reflect the distinct flavour and character that has made Country Calendar so beloved by both its rural and urban audience. It is a diverse collection that reflects the varied and changing face of rural New Zealand, and the hard-working, passionate people who love what they do, love their properties and love sharing their stories."--Jacket.