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Country Life

English, Local-Regional News, 1 season, 521 episodes, 4 hours, 37 minutes
About
Country Life takes you down country roads to meet ordinary people achieving their dreams. We live in a beautiful country...
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 18 October 2024

We meet a keen gardener in the Far North, hop in the sheepyards to learn about dagging and talk emissions with a sheep and beef farmer in Wairoa. And later we take a look back in the archives with a rural postman on his rounds.
10/18/202449 minutes, 7 seconds
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From the Archive: A day in the life of a rural postie

In a trip to the archives we join rural delivery man Doug Wilson on his 100-kilometre daily run around the big stations around Taihape, from a feature produced in 1985 by the team from long-running RNZ show Spectrum.
10/18/202419 minutes, 22 seconds
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Shifting times for sheep in Wairoa

A changing climate and shifting land use has prompted Wairoa sheep and beef farmer Dave Read to develop a new breed of low-input sheep.
10/18/20249 minutes, 17 seconds
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Farming 101: What's a dag?

In this first episode of Farming 101, we check in with sheep grazier Peter Crook to find out about dagging.
10/18/20246 minutes, 40 seconds
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A garden in Moerewa

If you're heading to the Far North via State Highway 1, you might spy Daphne Andrell busy at work in her garden.
10/18/20244 minutes, 36 seconds
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Rural News Wrap for 18 October 2024

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
10/18/20247 minutes, 18 seconds
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 11 October 2024

We join Girls Who Grow helping bridge the urban-rural divide for young women and meet two Canterbury hunters supplying local food banks with wild venison mince.
10/11/202449 minutes, 9 seconds
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The next generation of land girls

Girls who Grow: The new education programme helping empower the next generation of wāhine in agriculture.
10/11/202420 minutes, 15 seconds
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Hunters supply foodbanks with tonnes of wild venison mince

Hunters for Hope's Steve Hill and Adam Kreisel turn surplus venison from hunters and farmers into high-protein food parcels for low-income families.
10/11/202420 minutes, 20 seconds
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Rural News Wrap for 11 October 2024

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
10/11/20246 minutes, 25 seconds
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 4 October 2024

This week Country Life checks in on Miley the sheepdog in training and joins Katikati College students learning more about a future in horticulture.
10/4/202450 minutes, 14 seconds
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Dig This - Grow Hub ignites teens' interest in horticulture

Teens in the heart of kiwifruit country are being trained up for a career in horticulture through the Grow Hub at Katikati College.
10/4/202417 minutes, 34 seconds
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From pup to pro: Miley's diva days

We check back in with Miley the Huntaway pup and her trainer Chris Shaw to see what progress she's made over the last few months.
10/4/202412 minutes, 26 seconds
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On the Farm for 4 October 2024

A monthly look at conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
10/4/20248 minutes, 6 seconds
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Whale watching while picking winter grown greens

Ocean views makes harvesting of iceberg lettuce and broccoli a lot more pleasant for Ben Scott and staff at his winter grown vegetables farm in North Canterbury.
10/4/20249 minutes, 54 seconds
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 27 September 2024

This week we're between the rows at 144 Islands vineyard in Northland and on the Hurunui River where off-the-beaten track tourism is helping sustain a sheep farming family.
9/27/202450 minutes, 33 seconds
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Off the beaten track tourism sustains two generations of sheep farmers

Dome glamping, farm tours and jetting up the Hurunui River supplements income and highlights cultural heritage at a traditional sheep and beef farm in North Canterbury.
9/27/202419 minutes, 46 seconds
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144 Islands - A Northland vineyard inspired by vines from days gone by

Old grape vines clambering over a tumbledown shed inspired Jake Dromgool's wine-growing venture 144 Islands. He grows an array of varieties on the volcanic soils outside Kerikeri.
9/27/202416 minutes, 15 seconds
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From steering tractors to the helm of Leaderbrand

Richard Burke, chief of Leaderbrand, one of New Zealand's biggest horticulture groups, is returning the reins to the family which founded the firm 50 years ago.
9/27/20246 minutes, 50 seconds
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Rural News Wrap for 27 September 2024

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
9/27/20246 minutes, 6 seconds
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 20 September 2024

We meet a mother and daughter growing microgreens and head to a North Canterbury dairy farm using crops to mop up nasties which could end up in waterways.
9/20/202450 minutes, 35 seconds
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From selling shoes in China to sprouting microgreens in Te Puke

Kali sold shoes in China before coming to NZ. She discovered her green fingers just out of Te Puke where she has joined forces with her daughter to grow microgreens.
9/20/202419 minutes, 8 seconds
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Catch crops help prevent nitrogen from leaching into waterways

Trials on a North Canterbury dairy farm have found that early sown oats and Italian ryegrass are taking up excess urine deposited by winter grazing cows.
9/20/202413 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kerry Worsnop on a better approach to policy

Nuffield scholar and former Gisborne District Councillor Kerry Worsnop on how policymakers can better work with those on the land.
9/20/20249 minutes, 6 seconds
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Rural News Wrap for 20 September 2024

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
9/20/20246 minutes, 28 seconds
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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 13 September 2024

Hear from an expert on China's consumer market, meet a former dairy high-flyer now farming a very different sort of protein and learn more about a niche rural business using deer antlers.
9/13/202450 minutes, 5 seconds
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A cut above: Couple making 'one of a kind' knives

Jacinda and Richy Sheridan have carved out a niche for themselves, making hunting and farm knives using deer antlers.
9/13/202420 minutes, 8 seconds
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Milk high fliers move into hops and plant proteins

Meet a farmer who has developed a food supplement based on a protein extracted from green leaves and established North Canterbury's first commercial hop gardens.
9/13/202413 minutes, 19 seconds
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The inside skinny on China's consumers from Mark Tanner

Mark Tanner knows what people in China are consuming. He's the founder of China Skinny, a market research company based in Shanghai.
9/13/202414 minutes, 50 seconds
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Rural News Wrap for 13 September 2024

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
9/13/20245 minutes, 30 seconds
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Farmer retires land he says "shouldn't ever have animals on it"

"I've been farming on my own account for 52 years and cut down a fair share of trees, so now is my time to leave this place better than we found it," Chris Bolderston told Country Life.
9/6/202418 minutes, 35 seconds
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"It's lovely planting new trees and making nature"

Children are planting trees to recreate the understorey of remnant ancient forest on the edge of a South Wairarapa river. It's the second story in a series about the Ruamahanga Farm Trust which wants to connect the land, the river and the community.
9/6/202413 minutes, 36 seconds
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Adding birds to the farmer's toolbox

The growing strips of plantings separating rivers and roads from farmland on the Canterbury Plains has piqued the interest of Dr Sara Kross, an expert in how to encourage biodiversity on farm.
9/6/20249 minutes, 40 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
9/6/20246 minutes, 29 seconds
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Country Life Friday 6 September 2024

It's Conservation Week! This time the Country Life team meet a North Canterbury farmer who is retiring land he says "shouldn't ever have animals on it", we check back in with the school children helping restore an ancient forest on the edge of a South Wairarapa river and we learn more about the impacts of hedgerow planting on farm biodiversity.
9/6/202450 minutes, 9 seconds
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A sweet life farming salt - "just a man and his bucket"

James Moore is up to his knees in the waves at Cable Bay in Northland, a bucket in each hand. He's a small-scale salt farmer, with a plan to help others into salt farming.
8/30/202420 minutes
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The Ruatoria 'Noah's ark' for native plants

Māori conservationist Graeme Atkins at home in Ruatoria where he's collected the "Noah's Ark" of endangered wild cuttings, including the beautiful ngutukākā  or kakabeak flower.
8/30/202412 minutes, 59 seconds
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Guest - Dairy farmer Stephen Crawford

South Otago's biggest organic dairy farm might go conventional after news the dairy company which picks up the milk is reviewing the premiums for organic milk.
8/30/20248 minutes, 22 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

It's been a kind winter for most North Island farmers now busy with lambing and calving, with warmer temperatures and plenty of rain helping to keep the grass growing. Meanwhile sheep farmers in the South Island hope to see prices rise again.
8/30/20247 minutes, 2 seconds
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Country Life Friday 30 August 2024

This week the Country Life team heads to a small-scale salt farm in Northland and meets a conservationist collecting endangered wildflowers.
8/30/202450 minutes, 21 seconds
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Globetrotting envoy Hamish Marr grows the New Zealand agriculture story

Methven farmer Hamish Marr is proud to showcase farmers' and growers' innovations to overseas governments "and anyone else who is buying our products". 
8/23/202422 minutes, 15 seconds
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Tropical fruit tree seedlings in high demand as climate changes

Warmer weather means people can now grow fruits like pawpaw and bananas as far south as Invercargill.
8/23/202414 minutes, 14 seconds
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Guest - A moment for the humble persimmon

Wayne Hall, general manager of Wi Pere Trust's horticulture team in Gisborne, shares his love of persimmons and a recipe for how to best enjoy the fruit.
8/23/20246 minutes, 14 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
8/23/20246 minutes, 5 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 23 August 2024

This week the Country Life team introduces us to New Zealand's agricultural trade envoy, Hamish Marr. Cosmo visits his family's arable farm near Methven... and demand for tropical fruit trees like longan, jackfruit and bananas is keeping a Northland horticulture teacher busy on his lifestyle block overlooking Doubtless Bay.
8/23/202451 minutes, 14 seconds
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Wellington's goat scapes and a family's dairy dream

Meet the Steenkamp family behind The Brooklyn Creamery, supplying Wellington locals with fresh goat's milk and goat's milk products from just outside the city centre.
8/16/202418 minutes, 46 seconds
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Trees help combat erosion on Hurunui hill country

There's often little that can be done to prevent erosion of farmland, but the roots which grow from trees like willow and poplar are one way to help secure land that is at risk of slipping and slumping.
8/16/202411 minutes, 12 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's rural news.
8/16/20247 minutes, 18 seconds
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Guest - Kellogg scholar Rebecca Hyde

Rebecca farms sheep and beef in Scargill with her husband and father. She's also authored a project aimed at building collaboration with farming communities and Runanga in the Hurunui District.
8/16/20248 minutes, 58 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 16 August 2024

This week the Country Life team meet the Steenkamp family who are milking it in Wellington. The family runs The Brooklyn Creamery, supplying the city with fresh goat's milk and goat's milk products from just outside the city centre. Also...Trees are helping to combat erosion on hill country in the Hurunui District. Six farms in the Blythe Valley are getting willow and poplar poles planted on land at risk of slipping and slumping.
8/16/202448 minutes, 47 seconds
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Growing future growers in Wairoa

Tatau Tatau o Te Wairoa celebrates its first commercial apple harvest and the first of its horticulture cadets graduating. Along with Ohuia Incorporation, the trust has planted 28-hectares of Maori-land, transitioning from traditional sheep and beef farming to horticulture.
8/9/20249 minutes, 50 seconds
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MenzShed - a place where blokes can be blokes

A backyard initiative is keeping blokes busy in North Canterbury. The Cheviot MenzShed is a tooled-up workshop where men can tinker, talk and share their skills with the local community.
8/9/20248 minutes, 57 seconds
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The rural dunny - a good place to do your business

A trip to the archives with a nostalgic tribute to that most humble and human New Zealand institution, the dunny, from a feature produced in 1975 by the team from long-running RNZ show Spectrum.
8/9/202412 minutes, 5 seconds
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Taking salad to the next level in Taranaki

A Waverley business has cut the ribbon on a 900 square metre state-of-the-art tunnel house. Salad Brothers took over the 1.1 hectare site about 18 months ago and aims to produce half a million lettuces a year.
8/9/202410 minutes, 40 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 9 August 2024

This week on Country Life a high-tech lettuce farm in Taranaki, a tribute to the old fashioned dunny, a backyard project keeping blokes busy in North Canterbury and hort cadets in Wairoa getting their hands in the soil. 
8/9/202451 minutes, 40 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
8/9/20246 minutes, 45 seconds
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No lost sheep for this Bo Peep - pro shearer finds dream job

Shearer Brya Harrison, aka "Bow" Peep, gives lifestyle-block owners a helping hand with their sheep.
8/2/202422 minutes, 37 seconds
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A 'beautiful abundant food system' for future generations

Jared Hiakita has been germinating a seed of an idea while nurturing his food forest at the off-grid family farm in Hokianga. The seed has grown into a charity which will grow and donate fruit tree seedlings to local marae so locals can grow and harvest their own fruit.
8/2/202415 minutes, 39 seconds
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"They're not just clients they're friends "

Erin Middleton owns the only hair salon between Kaikoura and Amberley. The Cheviot hairdresser, who is also an emergency first responder, says she enjoys listening to her clients stories as much as cutting and colouring their hair.
8/2/20243 minutes, 25 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

In Pukekohe, a mild winter weather has prevailed with regular rainfall. Vegetables are literally jumping out of the ground. Marlborough grape growers have finished with pruning and most are on track for getting their maintenance work done.
8/2/20247 minutes, 12 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 2 August 2024

This week the Country Life team meet a shearer nicknamed Bo Peep who's found her dream job and they explore a food forest in the Hokianga.
8/2/202450 minutes, 50 seconds
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'See, feel, touch': How a riverside farm connects with community

A South Wairarapa riverside farm is turning into a rich classroom, offering lessons in science and the environment, maths, language, and legends of the land.
7/26/202421 minutes, 4 seconds
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Cashmere goat farmer wants to reboot luxurious fibre industry

David Shaw has been on a 35-year goat fibre journey on his farm in South Otago. It began with 50 multi-coloured feral goats and now, through selective breeding, he runs 700 creamy white goats and believes their fine cashmere fibre is cut out for the world's top fashion brands.
7/26/202412 minutes, 36 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
7/26/20247 minutes, 37 seconds
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Tips for farmworkers from dirt bike champions

Four of the country's champion endurance motorbike riders are offering lessons around the country on how to ride farm bikes safely. They're hoping the fundraiser will help them get to Spain in October for the world's premier off-road motorbike event, the International Six Days of Enduro.  
7/26/20247 minutes, 58 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 26 July 2024

Country Life meets a farmer who's been on a 35-year quest to breed the perfect cashmere goat, a dirtbike enduro champion is helping farm workers ride their two wheelers safely, and a riverside farm restores its wetland and gets kids excited about freshwater science.
7/26/202450 minutes, 52 seconds
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From pup to pro: Following a Wairarapa working dog's journey

Meet Miley, a seven-month-old huntaway with great potential. She's the third generation bred by award-winning dog triallist Chris Shaw and we'll follow along as he trains her up.
7/19/202419 minutes, 29 seconds
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Mosgiel tech company uses AI to help farmers figure out when - and how - to drench sheep

New technology is helping farmers to prevent drench resistance and keep sheep parasite-free.
7/19/202413 minutes, 24 seconds
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Retired Working Dogs charity sees jump in old dogs needing new homes

The cost of living crunch has seen the number of retired working dogs looking for homes explode. We talk to the charity helping rehome them about why they make such great pets
7/19/20247 minutes, 12 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
7/19/20247 minutes, 46 seconds
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Country Life Friday 19 July 2024

This week Country Life meets a Huntaway pup with great potential to become a top farm dog, we learn about the science behind protecting sheep from worms, a charity is helping to rehome old working dogs plus a wrap of the week's rural news.
7/19/202449 minutes, 59 seconds
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AI cameras in pest traps recognise predators and birds

A pilot using artificial technology to differentiate predators from native birds could be a game-changer for pest control.
7/12/202422 minutes, 17 seconds
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Eltham hotel an unlikely home to war relief project

Step inside an old post office in rural Taranaki and you'd think you were in a grand mansion in Europe. It's been converted into a small luxury hotel, but there's more than meets the eye behind its beautifully refurbished walls.
7/12/202413 minutes, 45 seconds
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India poses challenges and opportunity for NZ meat producers

Strategic thinking is needed to break into the Indian market, Meat Industry Association's Sirma Karapeeva says.
7/12/20244 minutes, 51 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
7/12/20246 minutes, 41 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 12 July 2024

This week Country Life meets a couple who have restored the old post office in rural Taranaki and ... a new pest trap driven by artificial intelligence is being rolled out around the Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Otago.
7/12/202450 minutes, 52 seconds
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Agrivoltaics tested at Northland solar farm

Kohirā is a solar farm near Kaitaia that is experimenting with agrivoltaics - combining agriculture with harvesting the energy of the sun. They run sheep under the solar panels and are looking at other forms of ag to integrate into the farm.
7/5/202420 minutes, 26 seconds
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What's the model sheep of the future?

Sheep breeders will increasingly have to address issues like animal welfare and the right to farm when they consider improving their sheep's genetics, experts say. But the biggest issue facing breeders is profitability.
7/5/202413 minutes, 5 seconds
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East Coast farmers 'feel forgotten'

Farmers in Te Tai Rāwhiti have made huge progress since Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc on the region last year. However, successive severe weather events mean the work is far from over.
7/5/20246 minutes, 44 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Apple growers in Hawkes Bay are busy pruning trees and pulling out old blocks. Further south, farmers on the West Coast are feeding out silage, moving breaks and getting ready for calving.
7/5/20247 minutes, 6 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 5 July 2024

Country Life looks at a farming system known as agrivoltaics where traditional agriculture runs alongside solar farming and Cosmo's at a sheep breeders field day on Banks Peninsula, to find out how genetic gains can boost farm profits.
7/5/202449 minutes, 41 seconds
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Kaputī and kaitiakitanga in Taemaro Bay

Sandra Heihei is the 17th generation of her family living in remote Taemaro Bay. She and her husband Alfonso live off grid and are among kaitiaki of this ancestral coastal land. Passing on knowledge of and respect for the whenua is her goal.
6/27/202416 minutes, 22 seconds
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Compost replaces chemical fertilisers on South Otago dairy farm

Regenerative farming suits Mark Anderson down to the ground. He's focused on putting as much life and diversity back into the land and says the benefits to the entire farm, and his own well-being, are evident.
6/27/202416 minutes, 23 seconds
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Bringing kiwi back to the capital: A national taonga returns to Wellington

A night out tracking the new kiwi which call Wellington, and Terawhiti Station, home with the Capital Kiwi Project team.
6/27/20245 minutes, 41 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news from RNZ's rural news desk.
6/27/20247 minutes, 30 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 28 June 2024

This week the Country Life team spends a night out tracking kiwi in the capital, meets a family living off-grid on their ancestral land in the Far North and visits a South Otago dairy farm where compost has replaced chemical fertilisers.
6/27/202448 minutes, 45 seconds
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Where Wellington's wild things live

How Terawhiti Station, a 4800-ha farm off Wellington's west coast, became the cornerstone of a project which has seen kiwi return to the capital.
6/21/202421 minutes, 8 seconds
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Get your skates on

People in the small farming community of Staveley in Canterbury are hoping their newly upgraded ice rink can stand up to global warming after locals pitched in to pay for a new refrigeration system.
6/21/202411 minutes, 37 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news from RNZ's rural news desk.
6/21/20247 minutes, 48 seconds
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Swapping swipe cards for spuds

Sarah Mosley is a chip off the old block. The former Wellington hotel manager is following in her father's footsteps after she headed home to join the family potato-growing business in South Otago.
6/21/20248 minutes, 26 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 21 June 2024

Country Life meets a former hotel manager who's swapped swipe cards for growing spuds, goes for a skate at a country ice rink and visits the farm at the centre of Wellington's kiwi project.
6/21/202450 minutes, 52 seconds
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From farm to fabric to fashion

Georgina Lawson and her husband Willie farm 3000 sheep at Merton in North Otago. Last year, Georgina launched a line of 100 percent woollen coats made from the clip of their farm's Romdale hoggets.
6/14/202421 minutes, 8 seconds
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The secret life of bees

With more than 50 years' experience in the apiary industry, Frank Lindsay is a hive of information when it comes to all things bee.
6/14/202412 minutes, 25 seconds
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Prices not that bullish at Charolais sale

A herd of young bulls went under the hammer at the annual Silverstream Charolais and Hereford Stud sale in Motukarara, but with farmers tightening their belts, prices were back a bit compared to last year.
6/14/20248 minutes, 5 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news from RNZ's rural news desk.
6/14/20246 minutes, 39 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 14 June 2024

This week on Country Life, we take you inside a beehive and the mind of a man who's been tending to them for half a century, we head to an on-farm Charolais bull auction near Motukarara and we meet a North Otago farming family that's spinning a new yarn, producing 100% woollen coats.
6/14/202449 minutes, 57 seconds
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Small but perfectly formed

New Zealand's most productive Jersey herd is small but mighty and like family to Taranaki dairy farmer Cliff Shearer. He is up to his 10,250th or so consecutive milking in one of the region's last walk-in dairy sheds and gains much of his knowledge from his large collection of vintage farming books and herd records.
6/7/202416 minutes, 41 seconds
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From the Archives - The Country Vet

This 1975 Spectrum documentary follows a day in the life of rural Gisborne veterinarian, Mac Wallace. His day begins with a cow having trouble calving and ends at Turehau station, where a group of calves have mild scours and an old mare needs some attention.
6/7/202420 minutes, 3 seconds
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Of all sheeps and sizes

A large part of Brian Hales' farm recently sold and will soon go into pines. We caught up with the sheep and beef farmer, to find out what was happening to his flock of rare and exotic sheep breeds.
6/7/20246 minutes, 29 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy
6/7/20246 minutes, 17 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 7 June 2024

This week Country Life catches up with a collector of rare and exotic sheep breeds who has just sold his farm, we learn about how a Taranaki dairy farmer's collection of antique farming books and detailed weather records helps him milk and breed his Jersey cows, and we dive into the archive for a look at life as a country vet in 1975.
6/7/202451 minutes, 22 seconds
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Cuddly, closeknit and connected to the farmer

The Norsewear factory in Norsewood is a community affair, with families, an entire volunteer fire brigade and neighbours working alongside each other over the decades. They have been celebrating 60 years since the classic flecked farm sock was first produced, and now have a new owner at the helm.
5/31/202420 minutes, 31 seconds
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Dam project aims to stop flooding in Christchurch's Early Valley

A series of dams to capture stormwater as it runs off the Port Hills are being constructed on farmland near Christchurch. It's the brainchild of Brent and Shirley Rawstron from Rossendale Wines, who are working with the Christchurch City Council to prevent flooding Early Valley.
5/31/202413 minutes, 56 seconds
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Reaping pink gold from South Island hydro canals - caviar harvest

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon in the Mackenzie District began experimenting with caviar three years ago and is in the midst of its short harvest period. Sally Murphy caught up with the company's chief executive David Cole.
5/31/20246 minutes, 5 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

A dry autumn will make for a tough winter for many farmers across the lower North Island, meanwhile it's made a great end to harvest with growers in Hawke's Bay and Marlborough busy pruning.
5/31/20246 minutes, 48 seconds
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Country Life for May 31 2024

This week on Country Life, caviar being farmed in Mackenzie Country, a flood-prone vineyard in Canterbury which has created flood prevention basins to keep dry and a woollen sock company which is at the heart of the tiny town of Norsewood.
5/31/202449 minutes, 10 seconds
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"Nature's itching to put the bush back"

From a block of gorse-infected scrubland on Banks Peninsula, renowned botanist Hugh Wilson has spent half a lifetime growing Hinewai Reserve into a 1600-hectare paradise of regenerated native forest by leaving nature to it.
5/24/202422 minutes, 47 seconds
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Forging through tough times

Blacksmith Jamie Hughes has a niche business crafting knives and hand-forged metalwork for chefs, farmers and tourists from his smithy in Norsewood. Tough economic times means he's feeling it from all angles like many small businesses in rural New Zealand. 
5/24/202411 minutes, 31 seconds
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Shear-will and the power of traditional healing

Serena Lyders has found her calling as a traditional Māori healer, giving back to rural communities and working with shearers all around the motu.
5/24/20246 minutes, 22 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy
5/24/20246 minutes, 47 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 24 May 2024

This week Country Life meets a traditional Māori healer helping shearers around the motu and things heat up in a blacksmith's forge in Norsewood. Later we explore a native forest that grew from rough, gorsey farmland and meet the botanist behind the impressive regeneration project.
5/24/202449 minutes, 19 seconds
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Fernhill - From DOC to dairy on the family farm

Fifth generation dairy farmer Jason Christensen took a break from the family farm to try life as a DOC ranger. His experience in the world of conservation, evident on the Mt Bruce farm in the foothills of the Tararuas, saw him awarded two of this year's Greater Wellington Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
5/17/202420 minutes, 12 seconds
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Sowing the seed for Māori to grow food

Country Life visits a food garden in Taranaki, where whānau are getting their hands in the soil and finding out how to sustain themselves from their own backyards.
5/17/202415 minutes, 9 seconds
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Vet's extraordinary escape after 9-11

Neil and Sandra Chesterton and their two sons escaped Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. The Inglewood vet was working for a charity there. He and Sandra chat to Country Life about helping vets in the country and their extraordinary departure.
5/17/20247 minutes, 24 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
5/17/20246 minutes, 40 seconds
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Country Life for 17 May 2024

This week on Country Life we hear about a country vet's daring horseback escape from Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. We meet Pounamu Skelton who is on a mission to help Maori grow their own food and later we head to the foothills of the Tararuas, where a former DOC ranger has put his conservation background to use on the family dairy farm.
5/17/202451 minutes
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The not-so-lame story of a country vet

Who knows what goes on among a herd of cows as they walk to the milking shed? Plenty, according to Inglewood vet Neil Chesterton who has made this his life's work and become a world-renowned expert in lameness in dairy cows.
5/10/202422 minutes, 44 seconds
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Feeding time at the zoo

Have you ever wondered where all the food for Wellington Zoo's 500 animals come from? The answer might surprise you... Gianina Schwanecke meets with the zoo's animal science manager to find out more and joins a group of otters for dinner.
5/10/202410 minutes, 14 seconds
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The last day of the kumara harvest with Doug Nilsson

It's the last day of the kumara harvest at Dunsmore Gardens, a farm on the outskirts of Dargaville. It's also time to celebrate after the grower lost 99 percent of his crop last season.
5/10/20245 minutes, 58 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
5/10/20247 minutes, 52 seconds
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Country Life for 10 May 2024

This week Country Life is at the last day of the kumara harvest in Northland, joins a quartet of otters at Wellington Zoo for dinner to learn more about where the animals' food comes from and speaks to Inglewood vet Neil Chesterton about a lifetime of treating lameness in dairy cows.
5/10/202449 minutes, 1 second
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City couple's mushroom venture sprouts from pandemic

On the rural outskirts of Taupō a young couple have started a mushroom venture far removed from their previous life in Auckland. Maggie Tweedie took a trip to a small block of land amid the green hills of Wairakei to meet Benson Thomas and Hattie MacLennan.
5/3/202419 minutes, 40 seconds
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From the Archives - D-Day for Ducks

In 1973 Alan Wilkes was out with his Labrador Zara and comrades at the opening of the duck shooting season. This story from the Spectrum archives was recorded on Kohangatera, a network of lagoons along the Palliser Bay coast.
5/3/202416 minutes, 4 seconds
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Duck shooting - a family tradition

West Otago farmer, Adrian McIntyre, says the late grain harvest down his way means there are plenty of ducks around for the opening of the duck shooting season. The first weekend is a bit like Christmas, he says
5/3/20246 minutes, 36 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Many drought-declared areas have now had some rain, but farms still have very low pasture covers going into winter. There's been superb weather for the gold kiwifruit harvest in Bay of Plenty which only has a couple of weeks to go and the Hayward variety is underway. Lamb prices remain depressed making some question the future of the sector. 
5/3/20246 minutes, 48 seconds
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Country Life for Friday May 3 2024

This week Country Life meets a young couple who left their city life to set up a mushroom farm and heads to the maimai with a hunter at daybreak at the start of the duck shooting season half a century ago.
5/3/202450 minutes, 47 seconds
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The last of the ballot blocks - farm sale reflects tough few years

One of the last rehab soldier farms in Wairarapa has been sold for forestry, and the farm gear is going under the hammer. Gianina Schwanecke is at the on-farm sale and finds out why the owner is selling up.
4/26/202419 minutes, 15 seconds
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A love for Clydesdales - 'they just become your mates'

Steve Muggeridge's beloved Clydesdales have returned to Taranaki. From his father's stud at the base of the maunga, he chats about the changing use of the heavy horse and hitches a pair up to a vintage wagon for a ride along the mountain's flanks.
4/26/202416 minutes, 51 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.
4/26/20245 minutes, 42 seconds
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Support on hand for RSE staff at Tasman orchard

Panadda Chittock is the pastoral care co-ordinator at Thomas Brothers Orchards in Riwaka. She supports about 80 Recognised Seasonal Employer or RSE workers from Vanuatu and Samoa who work on the orchard.
4/26/20247 minutes, 18 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 26 April 2024

This week Country Life is behind a team of Clydesdale horses on a vintage wagon, finding out about the increasingly rare breed, and heads to a sale of farm gear in Wairarapa, where one of the last local rehab soldier farms has been sold into forestry.
4/26/202450 minutes, 52 seconds
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Mt Taranaki ranger Tāne Houston - "we let the forest talk for itself"

Country Life takes a walk with mountain ranger Tāne Houston through the forest on the slopes of Mt Taranaki. We head up the volcano along a trap line, resetting bait, foraging and chatting about the progress made in restoring the landscape.
4/19/202422 minutes, 1 second
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"She's got everything you want in a cow"

A 40-litres-of-milk-a-day Friesian called Evie has been Supreme Champion Holstein at the New Zealand A&P Agricultural Show for two years in a row. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes meets the farmer behind the cow.
4/19/202413 minutes, 16 seconds
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The diverse experiences of farming

A lot of urban dwellers get their information about farming from supermarkets, new research suggests. A Massey University research project surveyed over 1300 urban and rural people about their views on farming.
4/19/20246 minutes, 43 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

This year's annual Canterbury A&P show has been canned, while there's mixed results at the meatworks where venison sales have bounced back but lamb prices remain at historical lows, and new research suggests growing demand for alternative proteins could change the future of farming.
4/19/20248 minutes, 31 seconds
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Country Life for Friday April 19 2024

This week Country Life is out with a mountain ranger foraging and checking traps on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and meets the farmer behind a champion milker. Also, a Massey University research project reveals what New Zealanders really think about farming.
4/19/202451 minutes, 11 seconds
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The Food, Farming and Freshwater Roadshow hits Renwick

Farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges.
4/12/202423 minutes, 28 seconds
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Rural Riders spins farmers' wheels - "I smile a lot here"

Rural Riders is a chance for farmers to get off the farm on a bike, spin some yarns and focus on the dips and the jumps rather than the weather and the milk price.
4/12/202410 minutes, 4 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
4/12/20246 minutes, 54 seconds
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Eric Fa'anoi - a view from both sides of the fence

Eric Fa'anoi has gone from helping farmers protect the environment to being a farmer himself. A visit to his ancestral village in Samoa also helped this young man from Porirua unearth his interest in agriculture.
4/12/20247 minutes, 28 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 12 April 2024

This week on Country Life, farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges. The team also catches up with Rural Riders, a group of farmers taking some much needed time off-farm by mountain biking.
4/12/202450 minutes, 16 seconds
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From techie to market gardener - "getting made redundant really pushed me"

Morgan Kane moved back home when she lost her job at a tech start up. It was the start of her move, with her husband, into market gardening. She and her parents welcome the advantages of multigenerational living and the chance to put a large lifestyle block of rich Taranaki soil into production.
4/5/202421 minutes, 38 seconds
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One persons trash is another persons treasure

Every year on Easter Saturday unwanted bric-a-brac goes under the hammer at a huge Paddy's Market and White Elephant in Akaroa. It's run by the Akaroa and Bays Lions Club which raises thousands of dollars for the local community
4/5/202414 minutes, 45 seconds
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Brothers on farms - competing for top farmer title

Brothers Callum and Archie Woodhouse have been named the top two finalists in this year's East Coast Young Farmer. We catch up with the siblings as they prepare for the next round of the competition.
4/5/20245 minutes, 44 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Rain is still needed in many parts of the country. Hay and baleage is being trucked around to ensure stock get their feed they need. The grape harvest is well through in Central Otago with good yields and clean fruit.
4/5/20246 minutes, 39 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 5 April 2024

This week Country Life meets a young woman who lost her job in the tech industry and turned things around by getting her hands in the soil and starting up a market garden. The team also heads to Banks Peninsula where unwanted gear in farm sheds has been turned into cold hard cash for the benefit of the community.
4/5/202450 minutes, 20 seconds
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From cow to cone - a big scoop from Nelson

Jersey milk from Murray King's farm on the lower Waimea River flats is crafted into award-winning ice cream. "We had to find a way of generating better income than we would by producing whole milk powder with the major dairy companies," he said.
3/29/202420 minutes, 58 seconds
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Finding the flock - searching for stories from Flock House

A search is underway for descendants of hundreds of British boys sent out for farming training in New Zealand a century ago. Flock House, a flagship agricultural school in New Zealand was set up 100 years ago. What ever happened to its first cadets?
3/29/202413 minutes, 19 seconds
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Raising fowls for families impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle

A hen rescued from floodwaters in Cyclone Gabrielle is helping bring back life to farms one year on. Hawke's Bay farmer Sally Newall hatched the idea to gift chicks to families impacted by the cyclone to help get them back on their feet and have fun with some feathered friends.
3/29/20246 minutes, 57 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
3/29/20247 minutes, 15 seconds
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Country Life for 29 March 2024

Appleby Farms, Flock House centenary and Cyclone Chicks
3/29/202450 minutes, 59 seconds
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Rare bird returns to Wairarapa wetlands

A distinctive booming sound is returning to the Wairarapa Moana. Most of the surrounding wetlands have been lost after land was drained for farming. Now, after years of rehabilitation work, more of the Australasian Bittern have been heard lately. Country Life heads out at dusk to listen for the matuku-hurepō.
3/22/202420 minutes, 57 seconds
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Low-cost posts for farms and no landfill charges for vineyards

A start-up in Marlborough is busy repurposing damaged vineyard posts, that were used to hold up the canopy, into sustainable posts for farm fencing.
3/22/202412 minutes, 31 seconds
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A taste of the future of dairy

Justin Gregory tries Daisy Lab's prototype precision-fermented products, which aim to have the texture and mouthfeel of dairy product, but are made without input from a cow.
3/22/20249 minutes, 49 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A declaration of drought for Otago and Canterbury unlocking new funding support for struggling farmers.
3/22/20244 minutes, 48 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 22 March 2024

This week Country Life takes you to an Auckland lab making cheese without the need for a cow, and a start-up in Marlborough which is busy recycling damaged vineyard posts into low cost posts for farm fencing, to wetlands in South Wairarapa where a rare bird has returned. 
3/22/202450 minutes, 38 seconds
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From woolshed to bed - two sisters spin their homeware dreams

How did two sisters design throws and blankets using lambs wool from the family farm? Kate Cullwick and Prue Watson share the secret to their Foxtrot Home business success and why it's essential to spread the good word about New Zealand wool.
3/15/202417 minutes, 40 seconds
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A blast from the past - Mustering in Marlborough

It's 1956 and in the heat of February seven shepherds, a pack train and 40 dogs drove 4000 ewes from remote Bluff Station, 90 kilometres down the back country to Kekerengu for shearing.
3/15/202416 minutes, 2 seconds
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Young fruit growers climb the hort ladder

Kaahu Birdling and Jordan Popata are supervisors at Thomas Brothers Orchard in Riwaka. They manage their own teams and are embracing every opportunity to learn about leadership and orchard management.
3/15/202411 minutes, 11 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 15 March 2024

From woolshed to bed - two sisters spin their homeware dreams, Young fruit growers climb the hort ladder, A blast from the past - Mustering in Marlborough and a wrap of the week's rural news
3/15/202450 minutes, 55 seconds
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A wrap of the week's rural news

More government support will be heading the way of farmers and growers in the Marlborough, Tasman and Nelson districts where an intense dry spell has been labelled a medium-scale adverse event.
3/15/20244 minutes, 33 seconds
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'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers

Every Thursday afternoon, Banks Peninsula farmers head to the beach in Hickory Bay and ride waves to forget about work. Farmer and surfing coach, Kristin Savage, runs the Surfing for Farmers initiative, which doubles up as an apres surf catch-up and BBQ in the farmyard.
3/8/202420 minutes, 37 seconds
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"Fresh ideas, younger muscles" - taking on the family farm

Sarah Maxwell goes from inseminating cows in the morning to shifting cows and sheep in the afternoon, working at the local sale yards and more besides.
3/8/202414 minutes, 13 seconds
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'No turning back' - horsetrekking from Bluff to Picton

Karolin van Onna reminisces about a dream come true, riding 1500 kilometres from Bluff to Picton through the back country
3/8/20247 minutes, 7 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 8 March 2024

'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers, a back country dream comes true on horseback, Sarah Maxwell's farming journey and a wrap of the week's rural news.
3/8/202450 minutes, 26 seconds
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A wrap of the week's rural news

A chat about the top stories this week from RNZ's rural news team with Susan Murray in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.
3/8/20246 minutes, 52 seconds
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Inspired farmers take action to clean waterways

A catchment restoration project in the Marlborough Sounds is bringing a farming community together to tackle water quality issues and achieve wider conservation goals
3/1/202421 minutes, 58 seconds
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Wool, sweat and shears - Golden Shears underway in Masterton

The Golden Shears is underway in Masterton, and from early Thursday the War Memorial Stadium has been buzzing to the sound of shears, woolhandlers' brooms and the cranking of wool presses.
3/1/202412 minutes, 45 seconds
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Australian winegrowers protest over plummeting returns

Many wine growers in Australia's largest wine region are in crisis mode due to plummeting prices for their grapes. Chris Archer works in the Australian and New Zealand wine industries and has been following developments.
3/1/20245 minutes, 20 seconds
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Country Life For Friday 1 March 2024

Behind the scenes at the Golden Shears, a conservation project in the Marlborough Sounds, crisis among Australia's winegrowers and On the Farm
3/1/202448 minutes, 49 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the country

Kiwifruit are looking good in Hawkes Bay. Some flooded vines have died but generally recovery is better than expected. Conditions are very dry in Marlborough so many farmers are offloading stock due to concerns over feed and water levels.
3/1/20247 minutes, 3 seconds
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Sheafs, cabers and tartan on show at Turakina Highland Games

Tartan, bagpipes, sheafs and cabers were out in force at the Turakina Highland Games, billed as New Zealand's longest-running such event. They're into their 160th year.
2/23/202421 minutes, 37 seconds
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"He's a very good looking pig, that one!"

Rick Martin and Nairn Illingworth farm a drove of happy heritage pigs on their small farm in Marlborough's Onamalutu Valley
2/23/202415 minutes, 23 seconds
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Truck driver takes to the water to reach farms

A large blue truck and trailer unit has become a common sight in the Marlborough Sounds as it's barged to farms to pick up and drop off livestock.
2/23/20245 minutes, 2 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
2/23/20247 minutes, 30 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 24 February 2024

This week on Country Life, how stock are barged in and out by sea after roadways are blocked, a visit to the Turakina Highland Games, and a chat with heritage pig farmers in Marlborough.
2/23/202450 minutes, 37 seconds
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Ancestors roots run deep at Wairau Pā vineyard

Haysley MacDonald was born and bred on the family farm near Marlborough's Wairau Bar, or Te Pokohiwi. The coastal land, that overlooks Cloudy Bay, is where his ancestors first landed over 800 years ago, and have lived there ever since those early migrations.
2/16/202420 minutes, 31 seconds
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Farming to the beat of his own drum

Former Wellington Percussionist, Jeremy Fitzsimons, is now based on the family farm in the Kauaeranga Valley near Thames. Bryan Crump paid him a visit.
2/16/202413 minutes, 46 seconds
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Farmers from around the world, Jana Gäbert

Jana Gabert runs a dairy farm about 30 kilometres south of Berlin. She is among farmers around Europe who have taken to the streets in protest about increasing costs and regulation amid high competition, loss of tax breaks and climate change. Last month she rode in a farm tractor to Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate to press home farmers' concerns.
2/16/20247 minutes, 15 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy. This week marked a year since Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the East Coast of the North Island, causing wide spread damage to farms and orchards.
2/16/20247 minutes, 15 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 16 February 2024

Ancestors roots run deep at Wairau Pā vineyard, Farming to the beat of his own drum, Farmers from around the world: Jana Gäbert, dairy farmer from Germany and the Rural News Wrap.  
2/16/202450 minutes, 41 seconds
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More rugged than posh - playing polo the Kiwi way

Summer at a sportsground in Hawkes Bay means the thud of hooves and the knock of mallets under the hot summer sun. 
2/9/202419 minutes, 10 seconds
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Green learning hub grows on red zone land

Students in Christchurch are getting involved in projects to help bring about positive environmental change at the Climate Action Campus
2/9/202413 minutes, 32 seconds
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A year after Gabrielle, "a little bit of a miracle"

A year ago the Wilson family's apple trees were bowled like nine pins when logs came crashing through stop banks and silt drowned many areas. Did the trees come good? 
2/9/20247 minutes, 53 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Susan Murray.
2/9/20248 minutes, 21 seconds
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Country Life Friday 9 February 2024

Country Life this week - a chat with a Hawkes Bay apple orchardist one year on from Gabrielle, the Climate Action Campus in Christchurch and a polo match under the hot summer sun
2/9/202450 minutes, 32 seconds
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I'm a wee bit addicted to doing farm trials says Waipara farmer

Former ag scientist, Ian Knowles, likes to lead from the front when it comes to sheep and plant trials and comparative experiments on his diverse hill country farm.
2/2/202420 minutes, 25 seconds
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Kotare Subtropicals on a mission to reduce banana imports

Geoff Mansell is growing bananas and many other subtropical fruits to supply local supermarkets and he hopes others will do the same.
2/2/202416 minutes, 24 seconds
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Banking on seeds for Raglan

People in Raglan have access to a community seed bank so they can plant their own vegetables and ensure local cultivars thrive.
2/2/20246 minutes, 43 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Susan Murray.
2/2/20247 minutes, 55 seconds
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Country Life Friday 2 February 2024

Country Life goes bananas, meets an award-winning Waipara farmer and checks in on Raglan's seed bank.
2/2/202451 minutes, 7 seconds
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Egg farmer cracks the paddock-to-plate market

Scott Jimmieson sold cars to upskill for his paddock-to-plate free range egg business. It was tough-going but good training for understanding his customers. Country Life hops in the delivery van taking eggs to the people.
1/26/202420 minutes, 36 seconds
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Summer lamb prices slide down the big dipper

"It's going to be a tough year. Do you want to talk to the bank manager or me?" Sheffield farmer Tom Ferguson tells Cosmo Kentish-Barnes after his on-farm lamb sale.
1/26/202413 minutes, 26 seconds
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Nuffield scholar and agricultural journalist Claire Taylor

Are farmers around the world telling their story well enough? Scottish ag journo and Nuffield Scholar Claire Taylor has been visiting New Zealand and spoke to Country Life
1/26/20247 minutes, 31 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

All stock are doing very well in Waikato and the maize crop is outstanding. In Canterbury grass growth is slow and even farms with irrigation have been battling to keep enough water going on.
1/26/20247 minutes, 8 seconds
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Country Life Friday January 26 2024

Country Life checks in on a paddock-to-plate free range egg venture and a Canterbury lamb sale as well as consitions on farms and orchards around Aotearoa.
1/26/202450 minutes, 21 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for January 19

Country Life visits Pamu's deer milking operation near Taupo, learns about farming by the Maori lunar calendar - maramataka - and hears about the potential for banana-growing on the West Coast.
1/19/202448 minutes, 30 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for January 12

Stories from the 2023 archive: Cosmo's at a high country station in the far south, Leah checks in on a toy treasure trove in Te Puke and Sally's off grid with a former Wellington mayor.
1/12/202449 minutes, 58 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for January 5

Stories from the 2023 archive: Leah meets a Northland olive grower, Cosmo's scratching cows with Loulou the Cow Whisperer and Sally's out hunting for a good cause.
1/5/202450 minutes, 9 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for December 29

Stories plucked from the 2023 archives: Cosmo's with chooks on a cliff edge, Sally's picking apples and Leah meets a dairy farmer who hails from Japan.
12/29/202348 minutes, 10 seconds
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"My pop owned a milk run" says farmer who bottles his own milk

A rural entrepreneur is pasteurising and bottling A2 milk from his families farm and delivering it to people's doors, just like his grandfather did.
12/22/202318 minutes, 51 seconds
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All the time in the world at Colyton Clocks

Colyton Clocks' Bill Williams reckons he has the largest clock collection in the world. A converted church in the village of Colyton is home to his ticking, chiming, talking timepieces dating from the 1700s.
12/22/202317 minutes, 5 seconds
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Rural Taranaki turns on the festive charm

The Grinch is surfing through paddocks and cows are driving tractors on the rural roadside of Taranaki...but who won the festive farm art competition?
12/22/20234 minutes, 51 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the country

Watermelons are growing well in Pukekohe and potato crops are producing good yields at harvest. In Canterbury, baleage is being made and jersey bulls are being taken out of the dairy herd.
12/22/20236 minutes, 17 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 22 December

"My pop owned a milk run" says farmer who bottles his own milk, All the time in the world, Festive farm art in Taranaki and On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
12/22/202349 minutes, 29 seconds
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'Welcome to the top of the world' at Blue Duck Station

Country Life goes on the trail of the elusive whio at Blue Duck Station while learning about the efforts to conserve the history and preserve the biodiversity.
12/15/202316 minutes, 29 seconds
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Still farming, just doing it differently

Country Life meets former dairy farmer Lance Gillespie, who's launching a kiwi style chicken trailer. Pasture-raised egg production fits with his interest in regenerative farming practices and, alongside the trailer business, he runs workshops to help other farmers improve their soil heath.
12/15/202316 minutes, 48 seconds
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Bring a fork, a bucket and gumboots

Cam Booker is hoping a good crowd will turn up on Christmas eve to dig their own spuds and pick peas at his market garden in Sefton.
12/15/20239 minutes, 41 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

The soggy ground has put East Coast arable farmers behind schedule. Only about half this season's maize crop has been planted. Also, the Big Feed Rural Telethon has raised more than 639-thousand mince and milk meals for food banks round the country.
12/15/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Country Life for 15 December 2023

This week Country Life heads to a chicken trailer in the middle of a paddock which is producing eggs and helping the soil and goes on the trail of the elusive whio at Blue Duck Station.
12/15/202350 minutes, 20 seconds
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"I was given a cow and taught how to make a shed"

A dairy programme in Sri Lanka is lifting rural communities out of poverty. Selina Prem Kumar and charity Tearfund set the programme up in 2009 and with support from Kiwi farmers, it's grown from helping eight farmers to five-thousand.
12/8/202324 minutes, 6 seconds
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Pest control creates balance for Northland farmer

When Geoff Crawford started trapping for pests on his farms, he was catching 70 possums a week. Now he's lucky if he gets seven...and the community have jumped on board too.
12/8/202313 minutes, 2 seconds
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Yarn on the Farm

A visit to the dairy shed to find out about AI and how to keep cows cool during El Nino.
12/8/20236 minutes, 10 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
12/8/20235 minutes, 20 seconds
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Country Life for 8 December 2023

This week on Country Life; A dairy programme in Sri Lanka is lifting rural communities out of poverty. Selina Prem Kumar and charity Tearfund set the programme up in 2009 and with help from Kiwi farmers, it's grown from helping eight farmers to five-thousand. Selina's been travelling around Aotearoa thanking the farmers for thier support.
12/8/202350 minutes, 10 seconds
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Building a wetland on farm

A wetland at the bottom of a dairy farm in South Wairarapa is reducing most of the nitrates being drained from the paddocks. The project at Kaiwaiwai Dairies is nearly a decade old and one of the owners takes us on a tour.
12/1/202317 minutes
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Working horses adjust to new life off the track

Chanelle Dickie has taken dozens of retired racehorses under her wing. She's part of a rehoming and re-educating programme that cares for standardbreds that have fallen off the pace.
12/1/202310 minutes, 40 seconds
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Finding Frank - a true deer hunting legend

Frank Erceg was victim of New Zealand's first helicopter hunting accident, but now his story, and that of the deer culling industry has come to life through his niece, Louise Maich.
12/1/20236 minutes, 10 seconds
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A show stopper for Christmas cake lovers

Cake convener Christine Beaton has a tip for fruitcake bakers at the New Zealand Agricultural Show, "you don't really cook a christmas cake, you dry it out."
12/1/20237 minutes, 47 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Changeable weather has prevailed in Pukekohe. Farmers in Otago are busy marking lambs and bulls are going out to the cows
12/1/20236 minutes, 36 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 1 December 2023

Christmas cakes, a deer hunting legend, rehoming racehorses and building a wetland on farm
12/1/202350 minutes, 5 seconds
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'It's the most sustainable fibre in the world'

Sheep farming and wool innovation took centre stage at the New Zealand Agricultural Show. The new Wool Zone section showcased the versatility of sheep and educated visitors on the myriad uses for wool.
11/24/202322 minutes, 25 seconds
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'Good to have a family business' says master cutler of Svord

Bryan Baker has been making knives for over 40 years in Waiuku - and now the legacy keeps growing as the next generation comes through.
11/24/202313 minutes
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Shout from the rooftops, says farmers' markets rep

Jono Walker, chair of Farmers' Markets New Zealand, is Country Life's guest this week. He's been in Rome mingling with other farmers' market representatives from around the world.
11/24/20237 minutes, 13 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Monique Steele.
11/24/20236 minutes, 42 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 24 November 2023

Wool's versatility showcased, knives out in Waiuku and a chat with farmers' market rep Jono Walker.
11/24/202351 minutes, 5 seconds
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Mangaweka Asparagus - from fire to feast

George and Diana Turney went from tragedy to starting Mangaweka Asparagus three decades ago. After the community came to their aid, they have enjoyed giving back and helping others gain a living from the land.
11/17/202321 minutes, 15 seconds
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Working hard to achieve the rural dream

Pigs, cattle, fruit and honey processing are all part of a sustainable farming business plan for first-time Motukarara farmers, Stacey and Ode Gielen.
11/17/202314 minutes, 1 second
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Rare horses relax at show

Eleven rare equine breeds, including the only black Percheron in the country, are on display in a quiet and sunny corner of the Canterbury A&P Showgrounds.
11/17/20237 minutes, 21 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy
11/17/20236 minutes, 27 seconds
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Country Life for Friday November 17 2023

Country Life is at an asparagus harvest near Mangaweka and meets some of the harvesters from Vanuatu. The team checks out some rare horse breeds at the Canterbury show and meets a Banks Peninsula farming couple.
11/17/202350 minutes, 57 seconds
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A doctor, an island and oil: The olive journey of Peter Crelinsten

Twenty-five years ago on a Mediterranean island a retired doctor learnt about olives. Now he's brought that knowledge, and the pursuit of their health benefits, to Kerikeri at Puketi Olive Farm.
11/11/202315 minutes, 38 seconds
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'The first thing I did was collect seeds'

89-year-old Fraser Ross has been restoring a podocarp forest remnant for nearly half a century. Arowhenua Bush near Temuka was damaged after a severe norwesterly gale struck the district in 1975.
11/10/202320 minutes, 30 seconds
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"Rural, rustic and exploiting my mother's talents"

A vintage photo of a little girl called Molly Mabel sits above racks of pint-sized traditional woollen jumpers, booties and beanies in a Hunterville shop. Who was Molly and how is she helping to warm up desire for wool?
11/10/20234 minutes, 48 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 10 November 2023

Country Life meets 89-year-old Fraser Ross, who has been lovingly restoring a podocarp forest remnant for nearly 50 years. Arowhenua Bush near Temuka was damaged after a severe norwesterly gale struck the district in 1975.
11/10/202350 minutes, 15 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
11/10/20237 minutes, 26 seconds
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Soldiering on - "There's no way that farm could have run without her"

Rhoda McWhannell ran her Waikato farm almost single-handedly when her husband went to war during WWII. She wrote a journal of her daily struggles weaving in her wry observations about war and love of the natural world. 
11/3/202320 minutes, 16 seconds
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Bees make a buzz at Mid-Canterbury show

The main theme at Ashburton's A&P Show were bees, bugs and butterflies. "It's covers the local gardener through to the cropping farmer and everthing in between!" says show president Victor Schikker.
11/3/202310 minutes, 30 seconds
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From the Archives: Growing food without sight

How do you garden when you are blind? One of Taranaki's pioneering environmentalists shows his ingenious method using ropes to help the visually impaired continue to enjoy growing things. This story was first aired in February 2022.
11/3/202310 minutes, 32 seconds
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On the Farm

Cattle prices have peaked and it's hard work selling sheep at spring fairs in Northland. In the Nelson region the late chill of August has set hops up well for strong growth.
11/3/20236 minutes, 35 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 3 November 2023

The story of a woman left to farm alone when her husband went to war, Ashburton's A & P show, gardening for the blind and the monthly wrap of conditions on the land.
11/3/202349 minutes, 44 seconds
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From sea to land: The kingfish farm of the future

For over 20 years NIWA scientists have been researching the feasibility of growing fish on land - now they believe it's ready for commercial uptake.
10/27/202314 minutes, 45 seconds
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Addicts find hands in the earth help journey to recovery - 'It grounds us'

A rural addiction rehabilitation facility near Christchurch runs a farm-focused social enterprise that connects its residents with planting, growing and sharing.
10/27/202323 minutes, 33 seconds
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The power of restoration from a Motupipi farm

After being encouraged to drain wetlands on their farm in the 80s a Golden Bay couple are already seeing the benefits of transforming the land back to its natural state.
10/27/20236 minutes, 21 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

Rural news reporter Sally Murphy takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
10/27/20234 minutes, 58 seconds
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Country Life for Friday October 27 2023

Kingfish farming, returning paddock to wetland, and drug rehabilitation through farming  
10/27/202350 minutes, 54 seconds
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School leavers grow into hardy shepherds on high-country cadet farm

A two-year farm cadet programme is turning fresh-faced school leavers in hardy, no-nonsense shepherds on a high-country station in Canterbury.
10/20/202323 minutes, 52 seconds
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Sheep and Beef Farmer Bayden Anderson - It's as good as it gets

Porangahau farmer Bayden Andersen shares the unique challenges and triumphs of managing an estate like its his own, while raising a family in the Central Hawkes Bay.
10/20/20236 minutes, 38 seconds
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Why rural schools rule

Take a trip with Country Life to Auckland's northernmost school, Tomarata School, where kids are found tending to chickens and planting fruit trees.
10/20/20239 minutes, 35 seconds
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'Wouldn't want to do anything else' says head shepherd at Otapawa Station

A young man who switched from working in insurance to working the land was one of the finalists for Beef and Lambs emerging leaders award.
10/20/20235 minutes, 34 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

The Rural Contractors body wants the new government to make it easier to get skilled workers and the seaweed sector is hoping some changes will be made so it can grow and profit from the lucrative wild algae, which is worth more than $20 billion a year globally.  
10/20/20232 minutes, 56 seconds
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Country Life for 20 October 2023

Country Life takes you back to school this week, where rural students plant fruit trees and tend to chickens. We also meet James Robbie who switched from working in insurance to working the land and a two-year farm cadet programme is turning fresh-faced school leavers in hardy, no-nonsense shepherds on a high-country station in Canterbury.
10/20/202350 minutes, 33 seconds
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From water to wine: The story of Dancing Petrel

An idyllic lifestyle change for Kim and Graham Gilkison from Taranaki to the Far North saw them also purchase a languishing vineyard. Five years later, they're producing award winning wines.
10/14/202311 minutes, 46 seconds
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A year on the farm: Lambing is in full swing on the Bird's hill block

The newborn lambs hide amongst gorse to escape the chilly winds and Alistair plants poplar poles on erosion-prone hill country.
10/13/202310 minutes, 20 seconds
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'I don't expect perfection' says farm dog trainer

From the Country Life archives - we meet former shepherd Anna Holland who trains people to train dogs.
10/13/202322 minutes
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Country Life for 13 October 2023

A year on the farm: Lambing is in full swing on the Bird's hill block, Canine Control, a feature from the Country Life archives by Carol Stiles, From water to wine: The story of Dancing Petrel and the Rural News Wrap.
10/13/202351 minutes, 19 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

Duncan Smith and Sally Murphy take a look at the week's agricultural news.
10/13/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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Piglets go back to the same udder - says free range pig farmer

Sows lounge in the sun as their piglets play, while others feed their litters in the privacy of their own cozy shelter at Hamish and Angela Cottle's free range pig farm near Timaru.
10/6/202322 minutes, 32 seconds
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Dog Trialling is in the blood

Champion dog trialler Clark Chrystal fosters his daughters love for the sport.
10/6/202313 minutes, 39 seconds
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'Vegetables have something to do with it' says centenarian

Alan Wilcox of Pukekohe celebrated his 100th birthday. He walks down a lifetime and legacy of growing with Country Life.
10/6/20238 minutes, 10 seconds
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Country Life Friday October 6 2023

This week on Country Life it's farrowing time when Cosmo visits a free-range pig farm near Timaru, Leah meets a horticultural legend and proud centenarian, and a dad and daughter dog-trialling duo chat with Maggie Tweedie.
10/6/202350 minutes, 18 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

Duncan Smith and Sally Murphy take a look at the week's agricultural news.
10/6/20234 minutes, 12 seconds
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Barker's of Geraldine thriving after linking up with French jam maker

The fruit preserving business was founded in the late sixties by Anthony and Gillian Barker as a way of supplementing their farm income. Now it employs over 250 people and produces about 800 finished goods.
9/29/202315 minutes, 39 seconds
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From the archives: A visit to Sam Neill's Central Otago vineyard

Veteran New Zealand actor Sir Sam Neill takes Country Life on a tour of his Central Otago vineyard just before the 2023 season got underway.
9/29/202318 minutes, 49 seconds
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'Keep eating it' - Kumara growers need help to leave dismal season behind

Ruawai kumara grower Warwick Simpson hopes seed contingency schemes will bring hope to the paddocks.
9/29/20235 minutes, 55 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around

Despite a dry period in Pukekohe in the middle of the month, warmer temperatures and residual soil moisture has stimulated crop growth. Most farmers are through calving on the West Coast and are busy dehorning cows.
9/29/20236 minutes, 52 seconds
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Country Life for 29 September 2023

This week on Country Life; Since the late sixties, Barkers of Geraldine has been filling Kiwi pantries with jams, syrups and sauces, and since linking up with a French jam maker the rural business continues to grow.. And.. Veteran New Zealand actor Sir Sam Neill takes Country Life on a tour of his Central Otago vineyard.
9/29/202349 minutes, 27 seconds
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Polar veteran turns to industrial hemp farming

So what hemp cultivars grow best on a Karamea dairy farm? Jake Gibbons is working towards finding out. One of his goals is to get local farmers using hemp to reduce carbon emissions.
9/22/202313 minutes
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Must Love Dogs

Kelsie Meads and her sidekick heading dog Sass are one of 12 duos taking part in this year's Trans-Tasman Cobber Dog Challenge. Small in stature but not in attitude, Sass is vying for the top spot.
9/22/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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Passion unfurled at butterly house in Hope

Ian Knight has a passion for monarch butterflies. He used to farm them at his property in Hope, near Nelson, to be released at weddings all around the country. Now he just enjoys watching them hatch and grow.
9/22/202316 minutes, 22 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

Fonterra makes a record profit, the wine sector is trying to make use of its by-product, a far north strawberry grower has had to diversify their crops and it's mental health week - what's the message for farmers?
9/22/20232 minutes, 55 seconds
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Country Life for 22 September

Polar veteran turns to industrial hemp farming, Passion unfurled at a butterfly house in Hope, Porangahau's love of winter sports , Must Love Dogs - the Cobber Dog Challenge and the Rural News Wrap.
9/22/202349 minutes, 51 seconds
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Pōrangahau's love of winter sports

The coastal village of Pōrangahau in Central Hawkes Bay has a rich history of supporting winter sport. Like many small farming communities in Aotearoa, sport brings people together.
9/22/20237 minutes, 31 seconds
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'I've been chased by wolves twice' - Timaru farmer

An injured hawk rests on Remus Coman's arm. He found it in a ditch on his cattle grazing farm. Hidden under it, an inked wolf forms part of a tattoo that tells stories from his youth in rural Romania.
9/15/202321 minutes, 42 seconds
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"Born with wellies on" - ex cop takes farming in her stride

Former cop, Lee Askew, traded her police vest for farmer's boots to rear a herd of Red Devon cattle near Gisborne. There have been plenty of challenges rearing artisan meat for her stall at the farmer's market.
9/15/202313 minutes, 39 seconds
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Chocolate maker in search of the origin of his own confection

Young kiwi chocolatier Johnty Tatham traces the origins of the cacao beans he uses for his handcrafted chocolate - farmers in Peru.
9/15/20235 minutes, 46 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
9/15/20238 minutes, 11 seconds
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Country Life for 15 September 2023

A cattle grazing farmer in South Canterbury is caring for an injured hawk he found in a ditch, Johnty Tatham's Lucid Chocolatier brand has been made from his family's sheep and beef farm and the team meets a hard-working producer bringing artisan meat to farmer's markets.
9/15/202351 minutes, 2 seconds
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A rescue centre for lambs - 'where there's a heartbeat, there's hope'

Jacqui Friedrichs has almost reached the limit in her lamb orphanage east of Carterton. It's been a tough lambing season and there is high demand for her intensive care. Her husband thinks she's mad but she can't help herself giving the newborns the best lives until it's time to head off in the truck.
9/8/202320 minutes, 2 seconds
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How a project on a race against time grew more than just trees

Native tree species in Rotorua are at risk of being lost forever, and yet the project to restore them has helped more than trees.
9/8/202313 minutes, 10 seconds
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Spring has sprung and sowing has begun

The cash crops are going in and the last of the trading lambs are heading off at Tim Cookson's farm near Hororata in Canterbury.
9/8/20238 minutes, 42 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
9/8/20237 minutes, 25 seconds
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Country Life for 8 September 2023

This week Country Life finds out what crops are being sown in mid-Canterbury, heads to a lamb rescue centre in Wairarapa and finds out how scientists and tangata whenua are working together to save native trees from myrtle rust.
9/8/202350 minutes, 54 seconds
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Just pay what you can, says Ōtaki vege grower

Jon and Tae are preparing their rented land near Otaki to start producing "pay-what-you-can" vege boxes in the spring. It's a small-scale social enterprise aimed at making healthy food more accessible to people who can least afford it.
9/1/202315 minutes, 2 seconds
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Home of the working horse

There were no tractors in sight when Cosmo Kentish-Barnes visited Erewhon Station. Instead a team of eight Clydesdales were churning the soil over in preparation for sowing.
9/1/202321 minutes, 42 seconds
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Wellbeing programme 'grateful for rural New Zealand'

Rural Change founder Elle Perriam is proud of the efforts of rural New Zealand to help those who need it most.
9/1/20235 minutes, 39 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 1 September 2023

Just pay us what you can, says Ōtaki vege grower,  Home of the working horse, Wellbeing programme "Incredibly grateful for rural New Zealand" and On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country
9/1/202350 minutes, 43 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Nelson is a picture, positive mindsets are coming back in Hawkes Bay and there's a feeling that a genuine spring is around the corner. August's farming conditions around the country.
9/1/20236 minutes, 39 seconds
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Calving brings the whisper of spring

Morrinsville farmer Peter Le Heron gives an update on the calving season.
8/26/20235 minutes, 9 seconds
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Backyard bananas in the Buller

A botanist on the West Coast wants locals to start planting growing edible perennials that are growing in his nursery and food forest.
8/25/202315 minutes, 20 seconds
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At the cutting edge - 'It's hard work making a top axe'

You won't find anything mass produced at Tuatahi, a small town business exporting handcrafted axes and saws to competitive woodchoppers around the world.
8/25/202315 minutes, 38 seconds
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Bud burst can't come soon enough for Hawkes Bay apple grower

Country Life checks in with Hawkes Bay apple grower, Lesley Wilson. It's just over six months since the family orchard was struck by Cyclone Gabrielle and a lot has happened since then.
8/25/20235 minutes, 11 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
8/25/20237 minutes, 31 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
8/25/20237 minutes, 31 seconds
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Country Life for 25 August 2023

A business at the cutting edge of axe-making, growing edible perennials on the West Coast, in the calving shed and a catch up with a cyclone-struck apple grower.
8/25/202350 minutes, 16 seconds
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Aladdin's cave of country music memorabilia

There's no room left in Barry Skinner's music museum in Hector. "I've run out of wall space so I'm hanging off the roof now," says the dobro and lap-steel playing collector.
8/18/20238 minutes, 59 seconds
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'His sperm is not that active'

A Year on the Farm with the Birds. In this episode Alistair and Genna have empty heifers to deal with after their new bull delivers low pregnancy rates.
8/18/202314 minutes, 11 seconds
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Farmers help to restore one of New Zealand's most polluted estuaries

Leah Tebbutt heads to Bay of Plenty to find out how farmers are restoring the health of one of New Zealand's most polluted estuaries.
8/18/202315 minutes, 58 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

A look at the week's agricultural news.
8/18/20239 minutes, 25 seconds
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Country Life for 18 August 2023

A Year on the Farm with Alistair and Genna Bird, farmer efforts to restore the Waihi estuary and a visit to a small country music museum in Hector on the West Coast.
8/18/202350 minutes, 15 seconds
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Maramataka another layer of diversity to a Bay of Plenty farm

Mohi Beckham is helping to turn a tired and depleted land into a fertile and productive farm. But the benefits extend to more than just the land.
8/12/202311 minutes, 40 seconds
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Gin distillery fizzes with plans for home-grown juniper

Kapiti distillers harvest kawakawa from their historic Wairarapa farm to make award-winning gin. They're also trialling growing juniper berries and planting more natives. Novel pest traps, a bottle recycling scheme and bespoke gins for fundraisers are all part of the The Bond Store's plan for sustainability and community involvement
8/11/202319 minutes, 23 seconds
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Supreme bacon brings home supreme prize for Hawke's Bay butcher

Wild Game owners Jordan and Varnnah Hamilton-Bicknell were named Supreme Winner in both the bacon and the ham categories of the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards.
8/11/20235 minutes, 38 seconds
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Rural news wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's rural news.
8/11/20236 minutes, 27 seconds
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Country Life for 11 August 2023

This week Country Life is in the bush picking kawakawa destined for artisan gin, a Bay of Plenty farmer recounts his story improving the land and his own mental health and - with the lambing season underway -  there's plenty of bleating at a farm on the outskirts of Christchurch.
8/11/202350 minutes, 21 seconds
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Lambing's taking off on end of runway farm

The paddocks on James Thompson's city limits sheep farm are starting to look like the arrivals lounge at Christchurch Airport during the school holidays.
8/9/20235 minutes, 33 seconds
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Half price natives - and planted for free

Landowners in Karamea aren't beating around the bush when it comes to riparian planting. They're making the most of a local not-for-profit nursery and planting service that grows and eco-sources trees.
8/4/202320 minutes, 42 seconds
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How one woman's 'childhood dream' led her to a Kiwi dairy farm

Chihiro Hanyuda moved to New Zealand seven years ago...now she is an award winning dairy farmer.
8/4/202310 minutes, 5 seconds
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A conversation in the cookhouse

Country Life talks to Jen Chrisp who cooks for the shepherds at Puketoro Station. She's carrying on the cookhouse tradition of New Zealand's extensive and remote back country farms.
8/4/20237 minutes, 1 second
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A tree for every woman

Kauri Forno runs a tree nursery in Gisborne which has been donating trees around Te Tai Rāwhiti for the past three decades. The Women's Native Tree Project Trust started with the aim of planting a tree for every woman in the region.
8/4/20231 minute, 52 seconds
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Country Life for Friday August 4 2023

Kauri Forno, Jen Chrisp, Clean Stream Nursery, Japanese farmer and conditions wrap.
8/4/202349 minutes, 27 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the Country

A lot of lambs hit the ground during the recent cold snap and losses are a growing concern in Te Tai Tarawhiti while in Otago there's more feed sitting around than usual so farmers are set up pretty well for the incoming spring.
8/4/20237 minutes, 59 seconds
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Crafting honey and art from bees

Cate and Mike King of Pauariki Honey lost a quarter of their hives after Cyclone Gabrielle hit Tairāwhiti in February. They also faced a poor season of manuka flowering. But the raw beauty of the region and its people keep them going and provide inspiration for Cate's batik-style art which in turn is helped along by the bees.
7/28/202319 minutes, 14 seconds
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"Bring the cash in a suitcase and the farm's yours!"

Karamea dairy farmer Peter Langford says he and his wife Debbie are ready to hang up their gumboots. With none of their four children keen on taking over the farm, it's now up for sale - lock, stock and barrel.
7/28/202312 minutes, 28 seconds
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Wild goats in hunters' sights in crack down on destructive population

Two organisations have teamed up to encourage hunters to cull high-density goat populations across the country with prizes up for grabs.
7/28/20234 minutes, 53 seconds
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Pig hunting escapades of a woman in pink

Kim Swan, joins Country Life this week for a chat about her latest book and what it takes to be a woman on tough terrain.
7/28/20234 minutes, 12 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
7/28/20237 minutes, 56 seconds
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Country Life for 28 July 2023

This week Country Life meets a couple who are still inspired by the rugged beauty of Tairāwhiti to produce honey and art from their bees despite having lost many of their hives to Cyclone Gabrielle, and they also chat to a pair of Karamea dairy farmers who are putting their remote and beautiful farm up for sale lock, stock and barrel.
7/28/202350 minutes, 21 seconds
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Hard work makes dreams come true

Christopher and Siobhan O'Malley stand in a paddock with smiles that could melt one of the nearby West Coast glaciers. The couple have finally achieved their long-term goal of farm ownership and now have their own slice of paradise.
7/21/202321 minutes, 24 seconds
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The Whanganui forest which never stopped growing opportunity

Richard Thompson planted Papaiti forest with alternative species 30 years ago. He never dreamt at the time he would become a timber merchant with a joinery workshop and retail shed.
7/21/202315 minutes, 15 seconds
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Agricademy - reinventing agricultural training in NZ

Agricademy doesn't have classrooms or a campus, instead students can dip in and out of on-line videos, filmed with experts in the dairy or wool shed.
7/21/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
7/21/20236 minutes, 16 seconds
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Country Life for 21 July 2023

This week on Country Life; It took ten years of scimping and saving for Christopher and Siobhan O'Malley to achieve farm ownership. Last year they bought an 80 hectare dairy farm on West Coast and with their 'licorice allsorts' herd of cows, they're loving the new challenge. The team also find out about a new form of agricultural training in NZ without classrooms or a campus and meet a forester making the most of his 30 year old exotic plantation.
7/21/202349 minutes, 57 seconds
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Ngā kura huna - on a path to hidden treasure at Opepe

Push your way through a tangle of bush only kilometres from the Napier-Taupō highway and you are on an ancient pa site. Tangata whenua sheltered here hundreds of years ago but this site is known to only a few. Country Life joins a group documenting the region's cultural sites on a walk to discover a hidden treasure.
7/13/202319 minutes, 51 seconds
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Farming and surfing a good balance for young Ag leader

As well as managing four farms and 35 staff at Pamu's Cape Foulwind farming complex near Westport, Jack Raharuhi's also a passionate surfer who finds mindfulness on the water.
7/13/202313 minutes, 5 seconds
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"A dream from growing up" Bay of Plenty oyster farm

Under new ownership Tio Ohiwa, or Ohiwa Oyster Farm as it was formally known, is bringing fresh oysters and opportunity to locals plates.
7/13/20236 minutes, 49 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
7/13/20238 minutes, 21 seconds
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Country Life for 14 July 2023

Oyster farm, Jack Raharuhi, Opepe and the Ag news roundup
7/13/202349 minutes, 34 seconds
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Bulls for sale after Gabrielle - celebrating the wins

Kokopuru Station in northern Hawke's Bay had slips and sinkholes a-plenty but the Hallmark Angus cattle stud managed to rebuild the farm ahead of their annual bull sale.
7/7/202314 minutes, 39 seconds
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Three generations on the same rural route

Lee Pryor has been delivering post along the Whakatāne coastline for 25 years, but he is not the first in his whānau and now his wife has even joined the ranks.
7/7/202314 minutes, 51 seconds
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A quarter-acre food paradise in Gisborne

Adrian Sutherland has more than a hundred fruit trees on his slice of suburban Gisborne and plenty of veges besides. 
7/7/202311 minutes, 59 seconds
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Country Life for 7 July 2023

This week Country Life heads to a bull sale in northern Hawkes Bay where slips and sinkholes from this year's cyclones have not held back the stud owners from their traditional celebrations and showing off the best of their progeny. Rural postie Lee Pryor tells his story as he delivers the mail along the Whakatane coastline, something he's been doing for many years ...as have his mother and grandfather before him. Also - a vegetable gardener recounts his method of growing fruit and vegetables by the moon.
7/7/202350 minutes, 52 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
7/7/20237 minutes, 9 seconds
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A green fingered grower with tunnel vision

Adrian Merhten's hydroponic journey began 20 years ago after being inspired by a local vegetable grower. He was a baker then, but now he's known in Hokitika as "The Lettuce Man".
7/1/202313 minutes, 42 seconds
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Hunting for Tai Rāwhiti - "I don't see deer, I see a food bag"

A team of hunters heads out every five weeks to a hill country farm to harvest deer meat for Tai Rawhiti's food banks which have been under pressure after devastating weather hit the region this year. The deer are a pest, grazing paddocks meant for sheep and beef and their meat makes nutritious meals for hundreds of people in need.
6/30/202320 minutes, 23 seconds
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Finding joy in retirement: Knocking toys into shape

Knocker Harris started making wooden toys for his grandchilden - 12 years later he can't stop.
6/30/20238 minutes, 29 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Wet conditions across much of the North Island are causing headaches and heartbreak for some, while the South Island is recording boomer seasons in parts, thanks to the wet. Kiwifruit harvest has been bleak, while the shortest day has marked the slowing down of grass growth.
6/30/20236 minutes, 6 seconds
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Country Life for Friday June 30 2023

Lettuce man, Knocker the toy man, deer hunting, monthly wrap of conditions on farm.
6/30/202350 minutes, 20 seconds
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Chef swaps good food for Good Farm

The Good Farm – a raw milk producer and market garden in the Bay of Plenty – is a real family affair. Former chef Loren Gibbs tells us about trading in the heat of the kitchen for digging in the dirt and dawn milking.
6/23/202314 minutes, 35 seconds
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New direction for traditional farm

From regenerative agriculture and Wagyu beef to solar panels that run the irrigation pumps, Ryan Cockburn is changing the farming landscape on his grandparents farm near Ashburton.
6/23/202320 minutes, 58 seconds
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Treat youself like you would a broken tractor, says Rural Support Trust

Taranaki branch chair Mike Green says we've not weathered the storm yet, but with support, we can.
6/23/20235 minutes, 24 seconds
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Country Life for 23 June 2023

A new direction for a traditional farm, a chef swaps the heat of the kitchen for chilly mornings milking, and a chat with the Rural Support Trust on farmer wellbeing.
6/23/202350 minutes, 50 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
6/23/20238 minutes, 34 seconds
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Voices from Tai Rāwhiti

From the back country to the coast, and the flats and rolling hills in between, you won't find many places or people untouched by the claws of cyclones Hale and Gabrielle which ravaged Tairāwhiti at the start of the year.
6/16/202340 minutes, 29 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
6/16/20239 minutes, 4 seconds
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Country Life for 16 June 2023

Country life this week heads to Tairawhiti to hear stories from the hill country to the coast..finding out how people are dealing with the desctruction from massive weather events this year
6/16/202350 minutes, 44 seconds
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Cow shed has the essence for coffee roasters

Essenza is home to the best-smelling cow shed in the North Island. Where cattle once sheltered, Mike Jobling now roasts coffee beans.
6/9/202317 minutes, 57 seconds
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A quacking good win for Willow the Duck

This year, for the first time in the National Poultry and Pigeon Show's long history, a duck is the Champion of Champions. Willow, a rare Silver Appleyard duck who hales from the South Island town of Darfield, seemed unperturbed to be the 'duck horse' of 2023.
6/9/202320 minutes, 35 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
6/9/20239 minutes, 9 seconds
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Country Life for Friday June 9 2023

Cow shed has the essence for coffee roasters, A quacking good win for Willow and the Rural News Wrap.
6/9/202350 minutes, 24 seconds
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In love with yuzu

It's ancient, niche, sour and prickly - but what's not to love about yuzu? Country Life talks to Neville Chun about his passion for the fruit and follows it from the harvest to the brewery where yuzu zest is crafted into a Garage Project beer with the wow factor.
6/3/202318 minutes, 14 seconds
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Tom the Young Farmer on his NZ farming experience

"It's going to be painful to go back to milking in a herringbone parlour after the speed that we're able to milk out in the rotary here," says Tom Everall, aka Tom the Young Farmer. The Shropshire native is working on a Canterbury farm for a few months before returning home to the UK.
6/2/20238 minutes, 21 seconds
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Composting barn better for cows and land, says Karamea farmer

Frano Volkman's cows will soon be snuggling up on a thick bed of woodchips and sawdust in their new 6,300m2 composting barn. The organic fertiliser formed underneath Volkman's herd will be spread onto the paddocks of his Little Wanganui dairy farm.
6/2/202312 minutes, 51 seconds
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On the Farm

Wet conditions in Northland have not stopped all year destroying kumara crops. Arable farmers in Canterbury have been battling to get autumn-sown crops of winter wheat and barley in the ground as paddocks have been too wet.
6/2/20237 minutes, 8 seconds
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Country Life for 2 June 2023

Growing and brewing yuzu, a composting barn and Tom the Young Farmer, plus a round up of farming conditions around Aotearoa.
6/2/202350 minutes, 1 second
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Dairy farmer bridges cultural gap beside braided awa

With the help of a cultural land advisor, North Canterbury farmer John Faulkner is creating a diverse mahinga kai - Māori food gathering site - on his riverside property.
5/27/202322 minutes, 48 seconds
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From Cockpit to Countryside: pilot cultivates aromatic acre

With a spare acre or two wrapping around the house, Damian Paine's turned his paddock into purple. Acre Lavender Farm
5/26/202313 minutes, 16 seconds
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Tractors wanted to help farmers in Tonga

If you've got an old Massey Ferguson tractor sitting in your paddock, the Pasifika Safe Shelter Trust would like to hear from you. Farmers in Tonga could do with them because ash from the huge volcanic eruption just over a year ago still needs tilling into the soil.
5/26/20235 minutes, 23 seconds
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Country Life for 26 May 2023

Aeroplane pilot finds balance with lavender, Culverden dairy farm bridges cultural gap and tractors for Tonga plus the wrap of agricultural news
5/26/202351 minutes, 5 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
5/26/20238 minutes, 11 seconds
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Dairying with deer

Hinds at Pāmu's Aratiatia deer milking unit are finishing up providing rich creamy milk for the season. Country Life is there at milking time to see how it's done.
5/20/202320 minutes, 32 seconds
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Rural counselling fund drops as demand peaks

The Rural Change Fund saw demand increase from 5 applications a week to 25. Now, when rural people need it most, the wellbeing programme has been put on pause.
5/19/20237 minutes, 42 seconds
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'Get your hands dirty!' says soil advocate and farmer

Australian food writer-turned-food activist Matthew Evans was in North Canterbury last weekend talking to local growers about what keeps the earth, and us, healthy.
5/19/202310 minutes, 19 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Leah Tebbutt, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
5/19/202310 minutes, 38 seconds
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Country Life for 19 May 2023

Country life this week spends the morning in a milking parlour with a difference. All the stalls are highsided, tailored for the deer which are providing rich creamy milk. Also Australian chef and farmer Matthew Evans shares his enthusiasm for soil.
5/19/202351 minutes, 3 seconds
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Community concerned about wellbeing of Waiau River

A dispute between the Waiau Rivercare Group in Southland and Meridian Energy over the health and flow levels in the Waiau River has been at a low ebb, but both parties are keen to bridge the gap.
5/12/202319 minutes, 22 seconds
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The man behind the metal

Adrian Worsley designs and constructs unique one-off sculptures from recycling scrap metal, tools and farm implements.
5/12/202313 minutes, 13 seconds
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Arthur Anae - from politics to farming chooks

Arthur Anae sleeps four hours a night and wakes in plenty of time to get his free range eggs to market in person. The former politician never thought as a young boy from Samoa he would end up with two big farms and he wants other kids to know where their food comes from too.
5/12/20238 minutes, 2 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
5/12/20238 minutes, 5 seconds
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Country Life Friday May 12 2023

The banks are closing in over a troubled river, from scrap to sculpture, Arthur Anae - from politics to farming chooks and the Rural News Wrap.
5/12/202350 minutes, 47 seconds
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'Like having a baby every day' - Remembering Ken the chicken champion

Country Life turns back the clock ten years to our visit with the late Far North farmer Ken Vincent. Back in 2013, he'd been breeding chooks for 70 years.
5/5/202317 minutes, 29 seconds
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A tractor on crutches and a Wi-Fi drenching gun

Episode Six of A Year on the Farm finds out what happened in April at Alistair and Genna Bird's sheep and beef farm near Oxford in North Canterbury.
5/5/20239 minutes, 59 seconds
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Future still uncertain for apple grower post Gabrielle

Lesley Wilson lost her home and most of the apple crop just before harvest when floodwaters filled with logs and other debris swept through the orchard in Puketapu. Nearly three months on, the clean-up continues and patience over funding is running out.
5/5/20236 minutes, 32 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the country

Autumn in Manawatu has been one out of the box. As a result, farmers are taking a fair bit of feed into winter. There won't be much work being done on farms in Southland this weekend - duck shooting season has arrived.
5/5/20237 minutes, 56 seconds
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Country Life for Friday May 5 - 2023

Chicken Champion, A Year on the Farm - Part six, Future still uncertain for apple grower post Gabrielle, Community gets behind organic garden and a wrap of the week's ag news.
5/5/202349 minutes, 47 seconds
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Volunteers dig in at community garden

Green-fingered locals in the Canterbury town of Kaiapoi love mucking in at their community garden.
5/5/20235 minutes, 55 seconds
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A natural ferment - it's the yeast we can do

The winemaking process starts in the middle of the vineyard at Greystone Wines in the Waipara Valley. Juicy pinot noir grapes are poured into a large vessel among the vines and exposed to wild yeasts for four weeks.
4/28/202319 minutes, 10 seconds
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Composting loo and eating insects because "why wouldn't you"

Melissa and Aaron Jacobson are trying to live as sustainably as possible on their small property perching ontop a hill outside of Eltham, Taranaki and plan to turn their way of life into a full-time business.
4/28/202314 minutes, 2 seconds
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Polo school programme aims to shed elitist image

Teens from Flaxmere College are saddling up ponies and swinging mallets, learning to play the sport of polo. 
4/28/20236 minutes, 32 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
4/28/20239 minutes, 24 seconds
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Country Life Friday April 28, 2023

Country Life is at Greystone Wines in Waipara, finds out how humanure is helping a Taranaki family's sustainability journey and chats to a polo club owner who wants to shed the game's elitist image.
4/28/202350 minutes, 39 seconds
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Trial vineyard has 4000 plants grown in lab

Scientists are researching how "jumping genes" can be used to develop more robust pinot noir grapes that still have an iconic New Zealand flavour. Dr Ross Bicknell and Philippa Barrell from Plant and Food Research are leading the project, which involves developing new genetic variants.
4/22/202314 minutes
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Off grid and farming carbon

Former Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown lives in a tiny off-grid house and regenerates native forest on a former sheep and beef farm on the flanks of the Tararua mountain range. The carbon sequestered raises enough funds so she can spend time trapping pests, improving tracks and nursing seedlings.
4/21/202318 minutes, 9 seconds
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A Tractor with the X-Factor

It's 100 years since the distinctive all purpose Farmall tractor was introduced on a Texas farm aimed at replacing horses between the rows and reducing the need for a hired hand on small family farms. An enthusiast shows off his New Zealand collection.
4/21/20235 minutes, 54 seconds
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A pinnacle reached for pine nut producer

Marlborough's Pinoli Premium Pine Nuts was crowned supreme champion at this year's Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer Awards. Co-founder Lee Paterson speaks to Susan Murray.
4/21/20233 minutes, 10 seconds
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Country Life for Friday April 24 2023

Off-grid and farming carbon, scientists develop new variants of Pinot Noir grapes, a tractor with the X-Factor, pinnacle reached for pine nut producer and the wrap of ag news.
4/21/202350 minutes, 37 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
4/21/20237 minutes, 55 seconds
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Healthy home for chooks at clifftop egg farm

When Anna Penn's flock of 3,000 hardy hens stop pecking and look up, they can watch waves crashing into the shore. They're residents at New Zealand's southernmost commercial egg farm, overlooking Te Waewae Bay in Southland.
4/14/202320 minutes, 48 seconds
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Sunflower salad bowl paddocks keep cows smiling

Sunflower-growing and virtual fencing are just the beginning at Rachel Short forward-looking organic dairy farm.
4/14/202313 minutes, 31 seconds
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Shearing with scissors goes blunt

A three-month stint with New Zealand shearing gangs has brought life changing skills to four Mongolian herders.
4/14/20236 minutes, 53 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

Country Life has previously spoken about the damage to forest estates due to the cyclone - but are crews back at work? The cyclone has also affected the annual Kaimanawa Horse Muster, to control the wild population.
4/14/20237 minutes, 20 seconds
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Country Life for 14 April 2023

Cracking good eggs on a cliff, Mongolian scissors shearers, Sunflower paddocks on a Taranaki farm and a wrap of the week's ag news.
4/14/202350 minutes, 6 seconds
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For the love of wool

Patrizia Vieno is originally from Italy but now farms sheep and beef at Tinui's Rewa Rewa Station. The farm has suffered after Cyclone Gabrielle but Patrizia has not given up her aim of establishing a hub for wool in the station yards.
4/7/202319 minutes, 45 seconds
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Stoked to win four good practice farming awards

A Year on the Farm - Episode 5. Alistair and Genna Bird tell Cosmo Kentish-Barnes about their recent success at the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards and what happened on farm in January and February.
4/7/202313 minutes, 20 seconds
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The vertical farms of tomorrow

A French agriculture professor developing new indoor plant varieties and an Auckland man installing vertical farming tech in private homes were two of the attendees at Aotearoa's first-ever Controlled Environment conference this week. Farming tech experts told the Hamilton gathering that New Zealand and Australia are perfectly positioned to feed the world's rapidly growing population.
4/7/20237 minutes, 30 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
4/7/20237 minutes, 51 seconds
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Country Life for Friday April 7 2023

Country life this week heads to a sheep and beef station near Tinui which was badly damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. But the scars on the land are not stopping the Italian owner from fulfilling plans to turn it into a hub for producing bespoke yarn, employing locals and boosting the profile of the wool industry. Also, A monthly account of life on the land with Oxford farmer and YouTube vlogger Alistair Bird and his wife Genna. In this episode, the couple talk about their recent success at the Canterbury Ballance Farm Environment Awards and what happened on farm in January and February.
4/7/202349 minutes, 50 seconds
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A slice of Te Kupe: hairy sheep and drone mustering

Taranaki sheep farmer Murray Jackson is looking forward to retiring his woolshed in a couple of years. He's phasing his family farm out of wool production to rear hardy and hairy Australian White sheep.
4/1/202312 minutes, 35 seconds
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Ambitious farming sisters develop fashion and food hub

The shearers' quarters at Davaar Station are a popular stop-off for locals and tourists on the Te Anau-Mossburn Highway. Inside, Anna Macdonald tickles their taste buds with sweets while her older sister Kate fits them with luxury jerseys made from wool grown on the family farm.
3/31/202323 minutes, 6 seconds
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Golden Bay farmer opposes virtual fencing

Golden Bay dairy farmer Tim Rhodes says virtual fencing is a worry for the dairy cow, the farmer and the consumer.
3/31/20238 minutes, 22 seconds
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Country Life for Friday March 31 2023

Country Life meets two ambitious farming sisters who've developed a roadside fashion and food hub, a Golden Bay farmer opposed to virtual fencing and heads to Taranaki to find out about hairy sheep and drone mustering.
3/31/202350 minutes, 55 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Sunshine's brought a sharp lift in fruit growth as kiwifruit begins its harvest, cooler temperatures are setting in and with grass growing in the South lambs can be fattened.
3/31/20235 minutes, 42 seconds
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Adventure trails and organic garden add X-factor to family farm

In the last few years, Tom O'Brien's Southland farmland has become home to a hand-built bike and hiking track and an organic market garden.
3/25/202314 minutes, 41 seconds
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Easing the way for farmers in difficult times at Field Days

Country Life is among drones, driverless tractors, nude sheep and comfy rocking chairs at the Central Districts Field Days, seeing what products are on offer to make the work of hard-pressed farmers and growers a little easier.
3/24/202318 minutes, 27 seconds
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Mushrooms sprout new lease on life in remote woolshed

Kyle Davey took a winter off two years ago, but what sprouted from his boredom turned out to be some pretty fungi.
3/24/20238 minutes, 9 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
3/24/20236 minutes, 56 seconds
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Country Life for 24 March

Sally gets in amongst it at the Central Districts Field Days to find out what's new in the ag world, Cosmo tracks down a bike trail that follows one of New Zealand's longest gold-mining water races and Leah meets a farmer, turned builder, turned mushroom grower in Taranaki.
3/24/202349 minutes, 51 seconds
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Southland farmer caught on the hop

Harvesting is about to get underway at Garston Hops which has gone from traditional sheep farming to a two tier operation with big plans afoot.
3/17/202320 minutes, 12 seconds
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How a freezer kickstarted a 50 year career in bag-making

Nearly 50 years ago, Dan Hickman swapped a freezer for a sewing machine. These days, you won't find many people in Otorohanga that aren't proud owners of a colourful Danzbagz bag.
3/17/202312 minutes, 47 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Maja Burry, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
3/17/20237 minutes, 54 seconds
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Trappers unite over the net

Amid the shiny tractors, new sheep breeds and delicious smelling spit roast at the Central Districts Fieldays in Feilding this weekend, was a stand featuring different types of pest traps. People were hunched over computers finding out about the digital support system, Trap.NZ, which is connecting thousands of trappers around the country.
3/17/20238 minutes, 7 seconds
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Country Life for 17 March 2023

NZ's southernmost hop farm, a small town business which has it all in the bag, an online trapping network tightens the net on pests and the ag news wrap with Maja Burry.
3/17/202350 minutes, 10 seconds
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Crunch-time for Greytown apple orchard

It's a return to the old days for the Cooke family of Greytown who are inviting people to come with their buckets and baskets to pick their own apples fresh off the tree. It's been a struggle for Molewood Orchard to keep going in the pandemic and it's hoped PYO will stop apples going to waste and houses from taking over the fertile soil.
3/10/202317 minutes, 59 seconds
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A bigger picture - dairy farmer discovers landscape photography

Capturing beautiful South Island landscapes is more than just a hobby for agricultural entrepreneur and aspiring mushroom-grower Edwin Mabonga.
3/10/202312 minutes, 38 seconds
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A smooth roll for Kihikihi

Kihikihi Bowling Club has said goodbye to their mower and hello to a vacuum cleaner. Their new carpet green has doubled the clubs membership proving a smooth roll plays an important role in the community.
3/10/20235 minutes, 10 seconds
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Rush of Jack Russells in Wānaka

Get your collars ready - a rush of Jack Russells are about to race through Wānaka. The annual K9 Natural Jack Russell Race is an undisputed highlight of the Central Otago town's two-day A&P show and this year over 60 dogs are expected to attend.
3/10/20234 minutes, 17 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 10 March 2023

Country Life meets ag-entrepreneur Edwin Mabonga who also takes beautiful photos of Southland and drops in on a Wairarapa apple orchard throwing open its gates for a touch of nostalgia.
3/10/202350 minutes, 13 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Maja Burry, takes a look at the week's agricultural news.
3/10/20237 minutes, 55 seconds
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Lou Lou the Cow Whisperer

Cows are Laura Murdoch's passion. She shares her everyday interactions with them on Facebook and Tiktok and some of her Cow Whisperer videos have racked up quite a few views.
3/3/202314 minutes, 10 seconds
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Stubbs Farm protecting the future through windows to the past

With over 800 acres of protected land on the farm, Ben Stubbs shares the hidden treasures deep in caves that motivate him to never make the same mistake.
3/3/202315 minutes, 29 seconds
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Mad about Mahinga Kai

Karl Russell has been gathering food from local rivers all his life and has witnessed the decline in water quality. Now he educates farm leaders on the importance of protecting the waterways for future generations.
3/3/202312 minutes, 41 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

The effects of cyclones are still being felt, while the added rain in summer has grass growing berserk across the North Island. However, the south could do with a bit more and more supplementary feed is being dished out to stock.
3/3/20236 minutes, 26 seconds
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Country Life for 3 March 2023

On Country life this week, a Southland farmer who has a knack of bonding with cows, the hidden treasures in caves on a Waitomo farm, a kaumātua who educates farm leaders on the importance of protecting the waterways for future generations and a wrap of farming conditions from around the country.
3/3/202350 minutes, 7 seconds
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Cyclone aftermath: Keeping tabs on mental wellbeing a top priority

The Rural Support Trust is planning support hubs in remote places for those farmers and growers impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
2/24/20236 minutes, 46 seconds
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One step at a time for fruit growers who face uncertain future

Orchardist Lesley Wilson and her family plan the next steps for their apple growing operation after a traumatic escape from flood waters.
2/24/20238 minutes, 59 seconds
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Farm kitchens fire up in wake of cyclone

The Greer family kitchen is headquarters to a group which is no stranger to dealing with hard times in rural communities. The Collective Hug, sparked by Hawkes Bay's 2020 drought, is on fire again - cooking and stockpiling meals for those affected by the cyclone. They'll need to be sustained during the tiring months ahead.
2/24/20236 minutes, 34 seconds
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Black Hawk Up - fixing fences and feeding stock

Light planes and helicopters are among the workhorses helping in the cyclone recovery effort. Hundreds of kilometres of farm fences need fixing and donated feed is leaving as fast as it's being delivered.
2/24/202321 minutes, 43 seconds
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Rural News Wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Sally Murphy, takes a look at the week's agricultural news dominated by the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.
2/24/20235 minutes, 59 seconds
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Country Life for 24 February 2023

Country life meets some of the people doing the mahi to help cyclone-ravaged Hawkes Bay including those feeding people, fixing fences, choppering in supplies and dishing out feed for stock. And the show also features its new segment, the rural news wrap of the week.
2/24/202350 minutes, 55 seconds
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New direction for traditional farm

From regenerative agriculture and Japanese beef cattle to solar panels that run the irrigation pumps, Ryan Cockburn is changing the farming landscape on his grandparents farm near Ashburton.
2/17/202320 minutes, 35 seconds
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Guiding on the Heaphy Track

Angus McKenzie has spent the past ten years as a guide on the Heaphy Track in the Kahurangi National Park in the northwest corner of the South Island.
2/17/20235 minutes, 26 seconds
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A city boy's love affair with growing green

From golf course turf to your well known Kikuyu, Mark Eman grows it all and has done for almost 40 years.
2/17/202310 minutes, 48 seconds
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Will Halliday on dealing with livestock during disaster

Many farmers and people living rurally will be dealing with the issue of flood-stricken animals. Will Halliday of Beef and Lamb NZ has some tips for those handling stressed livestock.
2/17/20234 minutes, 57 seconds
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Rural news wrap

RNZ's rural news reporter, Maja Burry, takes a look at the week's agricultural news which is dominated of course by the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
2/17/20238 minutes, 52 seconds
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Country Life for Friday 17 February

Country Life visits a regenerative farm near Ashburton farming wagyu beef and hears some of the harrowing stories from rural areas hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle. The show takes you onto the Heaphy Track and a turf farm and shares tips for dealing with flood-stricken livestock.
2/17/202352 minutes, 18 seconds
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Fossil Creek Farm: 'It hugs you'

Children and teens with mental health issues are entranced when they spend time at Fossil Creek Farm just outside Nelson. The donkey Holly senses when she should snuggle close and the rhythm of egg collecting and duck feeding brings a sense of stability to all who spend time there.
2/10/202323 minutes, 23 seconds
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Rugged farmland reverting back to bush

700 hectares of hill country on Nigel and Cathy Graham's Kaikoura farm is being retired. Income from honey and carbon credits are repacing livestock on the regenerating land. The couple have also protected a wetland that has one of the best examples of a raupo reedland in the district.
2/10/202312 minutes, 24 seconds
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A taste of country in growing suburbia

Once on the outside of Hamilton sits an urban farm keen to deliver vegetables that don't cost the planet. Run by five women, Earth Stewards practices poly-cropping on their organic vegetable beds.
2/10/20237 minutes, 38 seconds
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News Wrap

This new segment looks at some of the major agricultural news of the week with RNZ's rural news team. Reporter Maja Burry chats about dragonfruit, deer milk, rural support for flood-stricken farmers and the departing of Dairy NZ boss Tim Mackle.
2/10/20236 minutes, 46 seconds
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Full Episode for Friday February 10 2023

Country Life vists a suburban market garden delivering vegetables that don't cost the earth and a beef farm where hills are being returned to native bush. Also in the show, a trip to Fossil Creek Farm in Nelson where people are at the centre ... its animals and beautiful setting help nurture and heal troubled minds.
2/10/202351 minutes, 5 seconds
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Downhill adventures for diversifying farmers

A new mountain bike park has the run of the hills at Rick and Julia King's farm at Clarence near Kaikōura. It's the brainchild of their daughter Genevieve and has replaced the Merino sheep and cattle at Middle Hill Station.
2/4/202320 minutes, 19 seconds
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From one bunch to four greenhouses

With no flora experience but the need for a new direction, Colin and Mary Birch have become the owners of a lily nursery in Cambridge.
2/3/202312 minutes, 39 seconds
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More boots on the ground for Gisborne clean-up

Farmers in Tairāwhiti are looking forward to having more boots on the ground this month to help clean up their farms still littered with forestry debris from recent floods. Regional Federated Farmers president Toby Williams who farms sheep and beef talks about the pain his fellow farmers are going through after another major storm last month.
2/3/20237 minutes, 58 seconds
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On the Farm - Floating onions and slipping farmland

Assessment of damage is underway in Pukekohe after a deluge of rain saw onions floating down the street and farms turned into lakes. Kiwifruit vines and structures have also been wiped out - while parts of the South Island start preparing for a drought.
2/3/20238 minutes, 3 seconds
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Country Life for Friday February 3

This week Country life is at a new mountain bike park that has the run of the hills at Rick and Julia King's farm at Clarence near Kaikōura. The team also visits flood-stricken growers south of Auckland, a farmer cleaning up after another Gisborne storm, and a lily nursery in Cambridge.