The Country - Drought edition

Today on The Country, Jamie Mackay asked NIWA weather forecaster Ben Noll if he had any good news for drought-affected Kiwi farmers.

On with the show:

Miles Hurrell:

Fonterra's chief executive reviewed another steady-as-she-goes overnight GDT auction (down 0.1 per cent, WMP +0.4 per cent). He also said milk volumes were still pumping, despite the dry end to the season.

Jim Hopkins:

Today the rural raconteur didn't see the funny side of some of the government's health, environmental and forestry reforms. Plus, he had a positive message for misery merchants.

Shane McManaway:

Today's one-man panel (in the absence of his sidekick Doug Avery) featured the former chief executive of Allflex. These days he's a Wairarapa farmer building a health centre for his community in his spare time. We asked if the government's health reforms would affect his philanthropic venture.

Ben Noll:

Our NIWA weather guy had no good news for drought-affected farmers on the east coasts of both islands.

Jeffrey Morrison:

Rabobank's National Manager Farm Support talked about the bank's latest initiative to get our youngest and brightest into agriculture and, ultimately, farm ownership.

Listen below: