Happy New Year from the team at NZ Lifestyle Block

A weed is a flower in the wrong place. You could say something similar about pigs (and goats, sheep, deer, dogs, and cats).

For my friend Ruth, pigs are as much a blight as they are bacon. She runs a breeding herd of Angus cattle in the beautiful Diggers Valley in the Far North with her partner Stephan, surrounded by hundreds of hectares of native bush. Some nights you can hear kiwi calling.

Many other nights, wild pigs maraud out of the trees to destroy their precious pasture. You can see pictures on www.diggersvalley.co.nz where Ruth has faithfully blogged about her farming day almost every day since 2001.

They occasionally have a hunter come in to help control the wild pigs, and Ruth even gives it a shot herself.

Unfortunately, uninvited hunters also trespass onto the farm. A few months ago, one injured a wild sow, which then died. When Ruth sniffed it out a few days later, she discovered the heart-breaking sight (and took a photo) of a small, white-pink piglet cuddling his mother’s body. He ran off, but Ruth managed to grab him.

To my astonishment, he now has a name: Algernon Alan Baster, or Al A Baster for short (but Ruth writes you can call him Al). He spends his days doing cattle checks with his new mum and sleeping.

Some other very lucky pigs feature in this month’s issue. Pita and Eva caused a lot of heartache when they hunted out and demolished a rat bait station, then another, and another, and another. Our block vet Sarah shares their very lucky escape on page 50.

We’re also looking at how you can see your block in a whole new light in 2021. It shows how a master plan can improve your land, the environment and help the world.

I hope 2021 is the start of a happy, healthy year for everyone – thank you for being here.