The Country - Freedom edition

Today on The Country, Jamie Mackay is on the road, so Executive Producer Rowena Duncum and social media guru Sam "Lashes" Casey are celebrating their freedom.

On with the show:

Winston Peters:

The Deputy PM comments on his good friend and new British PM Boris Johnson, saying he is friend of New Zealand. We also talk about his recent FTA mission to the US where he met VP Mike Pence but not Trump. And he fires back at Judith Collins for saying he was all "piss and wind" when it came to going in to bat for farmers.

Blake Holgate:

Rabobank's Animal Protein Analyst, in the first of a two-part series looking at NZ's red meat outlook, casts an eye over the very positive sheep meat industry which is being driven by strong demand from China and the US.

Jim Hopkins:

Is a rural raconteur who's deadly serious when he says agriculture is under attack and farmers need to fight back!

Maria Augutis:

Our NIWA weather forecaster lets us know a bit more about this unseasonably mild July.

Andy Thompson:

Is a former West Coast cow cocky who gives us a dairy update, including the M. bovis Biosecurity Response levy and what's next for Westland Milk Products.

Listen below: