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Country Life

English, Local-Regional News, 1 season, 349 episodes, 4 days, 20 hours, 36 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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Sheafs, cabers and tartan on show at Turakina

Tartan, bagpipes, sheafs and cabers were out in force at The Turakina Highland Games, billed as New Zealand's longest-running highland games. 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 o Kupe. 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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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.
11/18/20237 minutes, 21 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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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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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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'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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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.
11/10/202315 minutes, 38 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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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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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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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. 
11/4/202320 minutes, 16 seconds
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Bees make a buzz at mid-Canterbury show

Bees, bugs and butterflies were the main theme at this year's Ashburton A&P Show. 
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.
10/21/202323 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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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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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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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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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.
10/13/202311 minutes, 46 seconds
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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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Dog trialling is in the blood

Champion dog trialler Clark Chrystal fosters his daughters love for the sport.
10/7/202313 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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Piglets go back to the same teat, 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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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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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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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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The polar explorers putting their 'hearts and souls' into hemp

Which hemp cultivars grow best on a Karamea dairy farm? With the goal of helping to reduce carbon emissions, Jake Gibbons and Kathy Blumm are finding out.
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 butterfly 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" says 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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Race to save Rotorua's native trees nurtures local rangatahi

As forest scientists work to restore native tree species threatened by myrtle rust, a Jobs for Nature programme is empowering young Rotorua men to connect with nature.
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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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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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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Erewhon Station: Where the tractors have four legs

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.
9/3/202321 minutes, 42 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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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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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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Clean-up a pleasant surprise for Hawkes Bay apple grower

Clean-up a pleasant surprise for Hawkes Bay apple grower.
8/25/20235 minutes, 9 seconds
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Calving brings the whisper of spring

Morrinsville farmer Peter Le Heron gives an update on the calving season.
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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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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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.
8/5/20237 minutes, 1 second
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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.
8/5/202310 minutes, 5 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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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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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.
7/22/202315 minutes, 15 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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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 Country Life meets the O'Malleys who have realised their dream of farm ownership after saving for ten years. Also, ag training without a classroom and a forester making the most of his 30 year old exotic plantation.
7/21/202349 minutes, 57 seconds
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Farming and surfing a good balance for young Ag leader

As well as managing 4 farms and 35 staff, Jack Raharuhi is a passionate surfer who finds his mindfulness on the water. Country Life visits him at Pāmu's Cape Foulwind farming complex near Westport.
7/15/202313 minutes, 5 seconds
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'A dream from growing up' - Bay of Plenty oyster farm owner

Under new ownership Tio Ōhiwa, or Ōhiwa Oyster Farm as it was formally known, is bringing fresh oysters and opportunity to locals' plates.
7/14/20236 minutes, 49 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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Chef swaps cooking good food for The 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.
6/24/202314 minutes, 35 seconds
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New direction for traditional farm

With fields of crops, shimmering solar panels and several hundred Wagyu beef cattle, young farmer Ryan Cockburn is changing the landscape on his grandparents' coastal property.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Adrian Worsley: 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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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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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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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.
4/29/202319 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 Dr 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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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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Mongolian sheep shearers 'excited' about what new skills could offer back home

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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.
2/3/202350 minutes, 4 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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A Year on the Farm - Part 4: The calves get a health check

A monthly account of life on the land with Oxford farmer and YouTube vlogger Alistair Bird. In this episode, he explains what happened on-farm in December and gets some calves ready for living on the hills.
1/27/202312 minutes, 49 seconds
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Billy Barton - 'They call me the Ferret Man'

Billy Barton used to compete with ferrets as a past-time in his native Wales. Now he trains them and a pack of white shepherd dogs to hunt out rabbits and feral cats in NZ's war against pests.
1/27/202322 minutes, 4 seconds
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Grapes on track at estate-grown winery

The unique limestone hills of the Waipara Valley are home to Greystone's 50-hectare organic vineyard. General manager and founding viticulturist Nick Gill says that despite a lack of direct sunlight, the grapevines are approaching véraison, a French term that heralds the start of the ripening process.
1/27/20237 minutes, 51 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Cows are laying in grass in Waikato, while pasture growth has dropped dramatically in Southland. Clinical signs of facial eczema are starting to show around the country and a tropical insect which could be hugely detrimental has been found on the West Coast.
1/27/20237 minutes
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Country Life for 27 January

Billy Barton - 'They call me the Ferret Man', A Year on the Farm - Part 4: Calves get health check before heading onto hills, Grape growth on track at organic vineyard, and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
1/27/202351 minutes, 8 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for 20 Jan 2023

Farmer Time gets kids focused on farming, Plenty of wriggle room for world's largest worm farm & From Mother to Daughter - A Smooth Transition for Multi-generation Farmers
1/20/202350 minutes, 4 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for 13 January 2023

Okarito GorseBusters, Horse and plough add French touch to Marlborough vineyard & Sheep farmers roll out woolen mat for the wellness market
1/13/202349 minutes, 10 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for 6 January 2023

Join Us, Sheep farmer struggles to control huge hungry hoppers & Healing by Horse
1/6/202350 minutes, 50 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for 30 December 2022

A scent of the past on Mahia Peninsula, Putting a steak in the ground with heritage breed & Nevalea Alpaca
12/30/202249 minutes, 43 seconds
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Summer Series: Country Life for 23 December 2022

Working dogs go under the hammer, Aiming for Sweet Success - from old carpet factory to vertical strawberry farm & Choice Cherimoyas
12/23/202249 minutes, 47 seconds
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Sam Neill - finding balance among the vines

Veteran New Zealand actor Sam Neill returned to his Central Otago vineyard earlier this month to find vines shooting up, pet pigs waiting for a scratch and a young stand of native trees thriving on a ridge overlooking his Red Bank Vineyard. He's celebrating the 25th vintage of Two Paddocks wine.
12/16/202219 minutes, 9 seconds
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Chook rescuers seek happy homes for hens

Hundreds of chickens are up for adoption after clawing their way back to health. The birds are under the caring wing of volunteers at North Canterbury Chicken Rescue. Some are found abandoned on roadsides and others are cage farming rejects, a system that will be banned at the end of the year.
12/16/202216 minutes, 24 seconds
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The full circle journey for this avocado orchard manager

After pursuing a career in fashion, dabbling as a yoga instructor and a snowboard instructor, Laura Schultz has found where she was meant to be, was actually where she had been running from.
12/16/20227 minutes, 20 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Heavy rain in Pukekohe mid-week made the ground too wet to dig potatoes or lift onions. Cherry picking is underway in Otago. The last two weeks have seen warm days and cool nights which has been good for ripening and flavour.
12/16/20225 minutes, 52 seconds
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Country Life for December 16 2022

On the vineyard with Sam Neill, chook rescuers seek happy homes for hens, the full circle journey for a young avocado orchard manager and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
12/16/202250 minutes, 22 seconds
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From pasture to biodiversity on a Whanganui farm

Look underneath and you'll know what's right for the land, says forest and soil consultant Ian Moore. He's hanging up his workboots and now has more time to spend nurturing stands of harakeke, redwoods, totara and eucalypts which all mingle together alongside sheep and cattle on his hill block near Whanganui.
12/9/202220 minutes, 8 seconds
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A Year on the Farm - Part 3: Dagging the ewes to prevent flystrike

It's a hot day in the yards as Oxford farmers Alistair and Genna Bird start the pre-summer task of crutching a mob of woolly sheep.
12/9/202211 minutes, 42 seconds
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A race against time at Fieldays

Fieldays being held in late-November wasn't the only difference to the annual offering. Mark Eager and Lizzie Stephenson were put in the drivers seat of a tractor in a race they dubbed against the tortoise and the hare.
12/9/20228 minutes, 54 seconds
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Country Life for December 9 2022

A Year on the Farm - Part 3: Dagging Ewes to prevent Flystrike, Ian Moore, tractor racing and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
12/9/202249 minutes, 25 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Rain has come back to Northland in the past few days. It's a blessing to see conditions like these in the summer months as soil moisture levels won't be improving from now. Silage making is in full swing in Canterbury and vineyards are at the tail end of shoot thinning in Central Otago.
12/9/20226 minutes, 58 seconds
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Restoring the balance of nature along the Kaikōura coastline

A trapline snakes its way along the coast between the Awatere River in Marlborough and Oaro River in North Canterbury. It's there to protect endangered native birds from introduced predators. The Te Tau Wairehu o Marokura Predator Control Project has a two million dollar contract to establish and maintain the 127 kilometre line.
12/2/202223 minutes, 32 seconds
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Meet the Number-8-wired minds at Fieldays innovation hub

More than 60 creative problem solvers were finalists in the Fieldays Innovation Awards this week.
12/2/202210 minutes, 48 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Hawke's Bay has had good weather for flowering vineyards. A dairy farmer in Southland says grass is shooting out of the ground after a good dose of rain.
12/2/20226 minutes, 17 seconds
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Country Life for 2 December 2022

Country Life takes a walk along a coastal trapline in Kaikoura, checks in with rural teen Rayne Bradley who's about to spread her wings and visits the Fieldays Innovation Hub.
12/2/202250 minutes, 31 seconds
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Rayne Bradley ticks the year off

In a series about a rural teen heading to the city to study, Country Life catches up with Taumarunui-born Rayne Bradley who is about to spread her wings.
12/2/20228 minutes, 10 seconds
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Hip hop dancer embraces the farming life

Hawke's Bay farm manager Viliata Junior Fonoti Taulago has been known to bust moves in the paddock.
11/25/202218 minutes, 37 seconds
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Ex-midwife in high spirits after setting up farm distillery

A sheep and beef farm on the foothills of the Seaward Kaikoura Range is home to a boutique distillery. Justine Schroder converted a shed into the Mt Fyffe Distillery three years ago and she's never looked back. The budding distiller uses foraged botanics and seaweed to infuse her small batch gins with local flavour profiles.
11/25/202211 minutes, 56 seconds
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Life on the road as a Wilderness Vet

Our guest this week is Caroline Murray - a vet in Blenheim doing things a little differently. She calls herself the Wilderness Vet and has taken on the role of working for herself, with her car acting as a clinic, full of anything she may need when she gets to a job.
11/25/20225 minutes, 41 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

There's an explosion of grass in Waikato this week after countless days of rain and warmish weather, calves are being weaned and drenched on the West Coast and winter crops are in the ground in South Otago.
11/25/20226 minutes, 10 seconds
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Why right now is the best time to get out freshwater fishing

Fishing licences are down this year which could mean more opportunity for a successful catch. Fish and Game ranger Adam Daniel lets us in on his favourite places to go in the Central North Island.
11/25/20227 minutes, 8 seconds
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Country Life for 25 November 2022

Hiphop dancer embraces the farming life, Ex-midwife in high spirits after setting up farm distillery, Life on the road as a Wilderness Vet, Why right now is the best time to get out freshwater fishing and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
11/25/202250 minutes, 54 seconds
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25 Years of Country Life - Avonstour Farm

Organic farmer John Earney has been hosting WWOOFers on his Taranaki farm for ten years. "Willing Workers on Organic Farms or World Wide Workers on Organic Farms but I say willing workers because if they ain't willing they ain't here!" he says.
11/19/202222 minutes, 26 seconds
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Out-of-the-box beef farmer aims for no waste

Claire Wells is one of few farmers who get to meet all their consumers face-to-face. The Gladstone beef farmer has just launched a gate-to-plate meat box business. Her subscribers pay for a "kinder" way of farming which will eventually see nothing go to waste.
11/19/202215 minutes, 43 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

In Manawatu it's gone from being too wet to drive tractors on paddocks to hanging out for rain. While on the West Coast of the South Island, farmers are shutting up paddocks for silage, and some are past their peak milk production.
11/18/20227 minutes, 6 seconds
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Country Life Friday November 18 2022

Out-of-the-box beef farmer aims for no waste, 25 Years of Country Life - Avonstour Farm, Guest - Mike Barham and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
11/18/202251 minutes, 12 seconds
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Farmers crowd source to save Taihape station from forestry

Mike Barham, a farmer from Hawke's Bay, is leading a crowd funding syndicate to save one farm from being sold into forestry. Mangaohane Station, nearly 5000 hectares just off the Napier-Taihape Road, is for sale. However, Mike intends to keep the station in New Zealand hands and farming livestock on the property. He talks to Leah Tebbutt about his plans.
11/18/20224 minutes, 41 seconds
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Farmers proud to be guardians of ancient drawings

There are hundreds of drawings on limestone rock, some of which could be up to 1000 years old, in South Canterbury. Peter Evans believes it was his grandfather who discovered the ancient drawings on cliffs that overlook his Pareora Gorge sheep and beef farm.
11/12/202215 minutes, 31 seconds
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Massive Anzac carving stands tall in Rissington

Two First World War soldiers have emerged from the remnants of a dying redwood at a fork in the road in rural Hawkes Bay. The massive sculpture is a tribute not just to those who went to war from small communities like Rissington but to the present-day locals who have banded together to create the memorial.
11/12/202218 minutes, 59 seconds
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25 Years of Country Life - The Leatherman Inventor

Back in 2002, in this interview from the archives, Tim Leatherman recounts how he came up with the nifty gadget known as the Leatherman.
11/11/20226 minutes, 28 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

In Taranaki the temperature gauge is rising and pasture growth is finally looking good. In Southland, they're flat out tailing and some farmers are pleasantly surprised that their lambing tally is higher than scanning predicted.
11/11/20226 minutes, 57 seconds
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Country Life for 11 November 2022

This week Country Life heads to Rissington where locals in the tiny Hawkes Bay settlement have driven a huge project to remember those who went to war. An iconic redwood at a fork in the road has been transformed into a massive sculpture. They've marked its completion and Armistice Day at a special ceremony this weekend
11/11/202249 minutes, 32 seconds
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A Year on the Farm - Part 2: Tailing the spring lambs

A mob of bouncy lambs locate their baaing mums after having their tails docked by Oxford farmers Alistair and Genna Bird.
11/4/202219 minutes, 29 seconds
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A road trip celebrating 25 years of Country Life

Every year Country Life's three producers get to discover nooks and crannies around the country, visiting close to 100 towns and communities every year. We're marking our 25th birthday show by taking a bit of a road trip and meeting some of the show's characters.
11/4/202216 minutes, 36 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Warm rain and a mix of sunshine has kicked grass out of the ground across the country. It's a relief for many across the North Island trying to get silage together. Farmers are treading water in Wairarapa and join those in Nelson wanting a bit more rain now the ground is drying up. And the last of tailing completed this week marks the end of the lambing season in Southland.
11/4/20225 minutes, 54 seconds
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Fieldays is back

Billed as the Southern Hemisphere's largest agricultural event, Fieldays at Mystery Creek in Waikato is fast approaching. It's usually held in the middle of winter but the Omicron outbreak delayed things til early summer... you may still need the gumboots though after all the wet cool spring. Producer Leah Tebbutt caught up with the chief executive of the National Fieldays
11/4/20225 minutes, 12 seconds
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Country Life for Friday November 4 2022

There's a chance to win a special 25th birthday bucket hat on this edition of Country Life which takes you on a trip down memory lane to meet some of the characters who've been on the show over its quarter century.
11/4/202249 minutes, 33 seconds
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Farming without a fence

A high-tech farming system which lets dairy cows move around without fences has also meant big changes for dairy workers. The young team on Pete Morgan's farm aren't just moving breaks and pushing cows along to the dairy shed, they're on an app remotely controlling the cows' trip to milking and designing paddocks to optimise feed, improve cow health and minimise the farm's environmental footprint.
10/28/202219 minutes, 25 seconds
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Farmer sets tuna hinaki in lake after getting rid of algae

Spencer Kahu has been farming in the Kaikōura District since he was 14. Now he's 24 and manages two large properties and for him, sustainability, conservation and gathering kai for the whānau go hand in hand with the business of farming.
10/28/202214 minutes, 31 seconds
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Tour through the kiwifruit vines after frost causes devastation

Kiwifruit orchard foreman Dave Trafford takes Leah Tebbutt through the vines on the back of the quad bike, where mere metres apart the vines change from luscious and green, to barren as if they've just winter pruned.
10/28/20227 minutes, 26 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Most farms are pretty short of grass in Northland and supplementary feed suppliers say there has been a big uptake. Strong wind has stopped spraying in its tracks for an olive grower in Wairarapa, while in Central Otago a frost at the beginning of the week was an early wake up call for cherry growers.
10/28/20227 minutes, 41 seconds
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Country Life Friday October 28 2022

Country Life is at a lake brought back to life near Kaikōura, we find out the damage frost can do to kiwifruit vines, and meet two farm managers who no longer reach for their gumboots first thing in the morning. 
10/28/202250 minutes, 16 seconds
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Grassroots show a hit for punters

It's not what you show it's how you show it and they get it right at the 152nd Selwyn Spring Show. After a two year Covid hiatus the Ellesmere A&P Association shows that any urban rural divide is absent when it comes to celebrating the culture of local farming life.
10/21/202219 minutes, 24 seconds
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Pioneering UMF: A beekeeper's story

After 25 years, Margaret Bennett is stepping back from an association she spearheaded. But there is still work to be done and she maintains she will be busy as a bee, but in the background.
10/21/202214 minutes, 8 seconds
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Mushroom-grower hangs up his cap

Clive Thompson was a curious 16-year-old when he started out growing mushrooms back in the 1960s. More than half a century on, he's now selling his Wairarapa business Parkvale Mushrooms.
10/21/20227 minutes, 26 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Weather has been kind in Bay of Plenty with enough sunny days to finally finish docking and creative juices have been let loose on the humble gumboot on the West Coast.
10/21/20226 minutes, 49 seconds
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Country Life for 21 October 2022

Country Life chats to a mushroom grower who's been in the business for more than half a century, pops in on the pioneering couple behind New Zealand's manuka honey industry and shows off all the fun of the fair at the Selwyn Spring Show, up and runnig again after a two year break due to Covid.
10/21/202249 minutes, 9 seconds
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A fine grind in Foxton

Flour is being ground the old fashioned way, powered by wind in Foxton's 17th century style Dutch windmill. Country Life takes a tour.
10/14/202221 minutes, 14 seconds
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Emotions flow at family run bull sale

The Timperlea Angus bull sale is one of the biggest days of the year for stud breeder Marie Fitzpatrick. It's also a time when her family get together to celebrate their love for farming and that makes mum Linda shed tears of pride.
10/14/202215 minutes, 3 seconds
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25 Years of Country Life - Our man in Pukekohe

Throughout our quarter century we've relied on good hearted and informed people from around the country to share with us what's happening in their region. Their comments are compiled into the rural wrap and one person who has been contributing voluntarily for just about the whole time is Stan Clark from Pukekohe.
10/14/20226 minutes, 58 seconds
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Country Life for October 14 2022

Country Life is at a bull sale in North Canterbury, hears from long-time Pukekohe correspondent Stan Clark and learns how flour is ground the old fashioned way, by wind, in Foxton.  
10/14/202250 minutes, 46 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Bay of Plenty kiwifruit growers are counting their losses this week after a frost last Friday caused irreparable damage. Central Otago sheep farmers are nearing the end of shearing and lambing is in full swing.
10/14/20226 minutes, 27 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

Cold and extremely wet is how most are feeling in Waikato. About 110 millimetres of rain has fallen this week. Snow fell across Canterbury this week to sea level. Grass growth remains very slow with many farmers still feeding out.
10/7/20225 minutes, 51 seconds
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A farmer's son and budding scientist

Thirteen-year-old budding scientist Finlay Ludbrook has had success with an experiment to see whether giving copper to cattle calves improves their condition.
10/7/20225 minutes, 38 seconds
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Raising rock art awareness for future kaitiaki

On the ceiling of a limestone cave in South Canterbury, a long, elegant sea creature has been drawn. Centuries after this taniwha [supernatural being] was carefully illustrated, the artist's pigments are still visible. Yet the story behind this ancient Māori artwork remains a beautiful enigma.
10/7/202222 minutes, 24 seconds
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25 Years of Country Life - A Mucky Business

False teeth and wedding rings are among Mac McLaren's finds during his decades in the business of cleaning out septic tanks.
10/7/202215 minutes, 21 seconds
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Country Life for October 7 2022

This week Country Life hops on board a truck heading out to clean septic tanks, chats to a 13-year-old budding scientist who's helping beef up cattle with an experiment involving copper and discovers hidden treasures in a secluded gully in South Canterbury.
10/7/202250 minutes, 38 seconds
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A Year on the Farm - Part One

In this new series, Oxford farmer and YouTube vlogger Alistair Bird gives us a monthly taste of his life on the land. In part one, Alistair heads to the Timberlea Angus bull sale in search of a fine yearling bull.
9/30/202212 minutes, 45 seconds
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Farmer Time gets kids focused on farming

Best of 2022 - A new educational programme beams farmers into urban classrooms to talk about agriculture with school children.
9/30/20229 minutes, 36 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

In the Bay of Plenty gold kiwifruit are in their full bud stage and the new red kiwifruit vines are starting to flower. In Otago one farmer says it' been one of the best lambing seasons in his 50 years.
9/30/20226 minutes, 19 seconds
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Country Life for 30 September 2022

Country Life's new monthly series with Oxford farmer and youtube vlogger Alistair Bird starts this week - he'll be giving a monthly taste of his life on the land. In the first episode he tells us what he's been up to in September and heads to a local bull sale in seach of a fine yearling bull. Also ... a new educational programme beams farmers into urban classrooms to talk about agriculture with primary school children and further North on Mahia Peninsula, a local historian reveals the story behind ancient groves of trees used for perfume hundreds of years ago.
9/30/202250 minutes, 43 seconds
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A scent of the past on Māhia Peninsula

Best of 2022 - A plantation of ancient tītoki trees used for perfume is among the secrets unveiled by historian and writer Mere Whaanga who has researched the story of Taipōrutu - her ancestral land on Māhia Peninsula.
9/30/202220 minutes, 20 seconds
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Young salmon encouraged to linger for longer in fenced off waterway

It's been 70 years since fresh mountain water rippled through the east branch of Glenariffe Stream in Canterbury's Rakaia Gorge. Now, thanks to a generous bequest, it will soon flow again.
9/24/202220 minutes, 18 seconds
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High-tech strawberry farm aims high in Foxton

Best of 2022 - Country Life takes a tour of a high-tech strawberry farm in Foxton. 
9/23/202216 minutes, 37 seconds
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On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ

In the Bay of Plenty it's still wet and boggy around kiwifruit vines. Bud burst is a bit slower than usual which is a relief for orchardists still trying to finish pruning. Ewe scanning percentages are down about 10 percent in Southland and that's being attributed to this year's drought.
9/23/20227 minutes, 2 seconds
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Asparagus season about to start in North Island

Horowhenua asparagus grower Geoff Lewis tells Sally Wenley about some of the challenges of growing a commercial crop of the vegetable and the best way to eat them.
9/23/20225 minutes, 44 seconds
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Country Life for 23 September 2022

Young salmon urged to linger for longer in fenced off waterway, Aiming for Sweet Success - from old carpet factory to vertical strawberry farm, Asparagus season about to start in North Island and On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ.
9/23/202250 minutes, 35 seconds