The Country Today - Wet Wet Wet edition

It's the whole show in one go! Today The Country is brought to you by a solo Jamie Mackay and miserable wet weather. To make things worse, Jamie is commemorating the rain by playing insipid songs by Wet Wet Wet.

We're so very sorry.

On with the show: We hope to start with Phil Duncan but he's gone missing... so let's begin with Mark Townshend. We yarn to the former Fonterra Director who is battling the big wet but appreciating the turnaround in the fortunes of dairy farming.

Here he is! Monday's resident weather expert Phil Duncan charges his phone and updates us on the flooding around New Zealand. He also says La Nina is 50% here now and it could be confirmed in just two weeks.

Next up Minister of Finance Bill English comments on the high dollar and says historically it's not that bad.

Today's Panel is Steve Wyn-Harris and Grant McCallum, a Central Hawkes Bay sheep farmer and a Northland cow cocky with contrasting views on the weather and politics.

Then we catch up with our rural raconteur Jim Hopkins who says it's about time someone "called Winston out".

Finally it's the turn of Tom Ruddenklau. The GM of Volkswagen New Zealand says the high New Zealand dollar is less of a worry to him than it is to his Uncle Bill (English).

All together now...

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes

Have a listen to The Country in the Soundcloud embed below: