The Country - Flood edition

Today on The Country, Jamie Mackay spoke to Te Radar about how West Auckland is faring after a massive overnight storm caused flash flooding which continues to wreak havoc.

On with the show:

Te Radar:

We head to West Auckland (Henderson Valley) to update the flash floods that have seen up to 50 houses evacuated and farmland inundated with up to 200mls of rain in half a day. And we ask one of the country's leading comedians how he keeps his chin up in the face of Level 4 lockdown.

Dr Jacqueline Rowarth:

One of New Zealand's leading farming academics says if we think the price of food (2.8 per cent pa) is getting out of hand in New Zealand, then we "ain't seen nothing yet" with the FAO's global food price index running at 31 per cent for the past 12 months.

Nathan Penny:

Westpac's Rural Economist comments on equity markets defying gravity, the OCR on hold, a settled exchange rate, record food price inflation around the world and some excellent prospects for red meat.

Nadine Tunley:

We ask the chief executive of Horticulture NZ how the industry is handling Level 4 lockdown and what challenges the split-level lockdowns will pose at Auckland's border, especially at Pukekohe, the vegetable basket of New Zealand.

Todd Clark:

Our US correspondent comments on Hurricane Ida heading north, life under Covid on his Kentucky farm, anti-vaxers, Joe Biden and the retreat from Iraq.

Listen below: