Country Calendar: The Best of 2012

New Zealand s long-running television series Country Calendar keeps making well-told stories about strong characters doing interesting things in great rural locations. Each of the stories is told in depth. The twelve episodes chosen as the best of 2012 feature a wide range of farming and outdoors activities. There are musters of cattle and sheep on remote farms, a highly successful shearing partnership, contrasting accounts of fishing, a forestry enterprise and hunting. There are novel approaches to farming from small-acreage lavender cultivation to new developments in cattle feeding. There are plenty of horses, too. Most of these family-run enterprises use direct marketing to achieve commercial success. Their owners pay close attention to the environment in some of the world s most beautiful landscapes.