Rural Delivery continues to look back at highlights from stories covered in spring this year. We look at advances in genomics, mussel breeding and what work is being done to reduce pesticide use in the pipfruit industry. As well, we visit high profile farmers in Hawkes Bay and the Inland Kaikouras.

AgResearch opened a Centre for Reproduction and Genomics this year in Mosgiel. Scientists and technicians from both AgResearch and the University of Otago are working at the centre. Much of the work has been made possible by the sequencing of the bovine genome.

Apple Futures is a programme designed to deliver fruit with low or negligible chemical residues into discerning markets. The pipfruit industry has been responding to signals from the market and has come up with a credible system of testing residue levels in the fruit. They have also been focussing on methods to facilitate the reduction in the use of pesticides and chemicals.

The Cawthron Institute has begun breeding mussels to give the mussel industry access to the same technologies and methods that land-based farming has used for hundreds of years. The mussel breeding programme is the first of its kind in the world.

Carl and Sue Read-Jones won the Silver Fern Farm's Hawke's Bay Farmer of the Year. The Read-Jones Tarawera Station is a 2,623 ha farm running 26,000 stock units on the banks of the Mohaka River. The farm is part of Te Awahohonu Forest Trust but has only been farmed for the past 20 years. Carl is working to a comprehensive business plan set by the Trust, with environmental objectives a high priority. It is a challenging property and because of its large scale, requires skills on another level.

Four years ago, after a career in the rural investment sector, Bruce Wills joined his brother Scott to run the family operation at Trellinoe Farm. The farm has been in the family since the 1950's. It is well known in Hawkes Bay because of its garden and caf, and is a showplace attraction on the Napier-Taupo road. The farm is investing in sustainability with reduced stock numbers, more shade trees and more dams. Wills also has a high profile role as chair of the Meat and Fibre Division of Federated Farmers.

Middlehurst is a high country station on the Inland Kaikouras that experiences extreme climate conditions. Sue and Willie MacDonald have farmed the property since 1998. Frosts are frequent and can occur at anytime. Temperatures sometimes exceed 40 degrees. The MacDonalds were attracted to the property by its naturally fertile soils and good balance of north and south facing country. They have refined their merino breeding programme and now produce fine wool to service a large contract with a popular sportswear company.