Country Life

This week Country Life takes you stargazing at a farm near Lake Tekapo, goes behind the scenes of a wool auction in Napier and is with some belching cows being measured for methane emissions at a giant barn in Waikato. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . In this episode: 0:00 - Rural News Wrap 0:00 - Inside the 'animal Hilton': Pamu&...

Gianina gives an update on her suburban vege garden. She's preparing to plant garlic as the stars align around Matariki. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . You can see photos and hear more about the garden set up from our previous episode, here . Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Anisha learns about Matariki, lightyears, and farm diversification on a starry night in Lake Tekapo. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Sam Blair and Steve Berge Make sure you’re following us on your favourite podcast app, so you don’t miss new episodes every Friday evening. Want to chat to us or find out more about RNZ Podcas...

Country Life steps ringside for the "verbal boxing match" of a wool auction in Napier. Richard Kells of Kells Wool traces his experience of the wool industry from the era of skinny sheep in the 1980s to the reviving industry of present day. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Richard Kells, Holly Tarrant, Jess Williams, Ken Tun...

A giant barn in Waikato features 10 feeder bins for cows to graze from freely allowing their burps to be measured for methane emissions. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Diane Karaitiana Bryant, Pāmu Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A wrap of the week's news from RNZ's rural news team. You can find more from RNZ's rural news team, here . Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Sally Round chats to Otago farmer Becks Smith about her ventures, and Braden Crosby of the Bragato Institute. Anisha Satya eats deep-friend locusts, and Mark Leishman checks out the drones fighting wilding pines in South Canterbury. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . In this episode: 0:48 - Rural news wrap 6:06 - Becks Smith 13:34 - Lunching...

Mark Leishman heads to a South Canterbury farm to join a drone pilot extinguishing weeds and finds out about the potential of the technology on farm. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Rowland Sommer SPS Automation Make sure you’re following us on your favourite podcast app, so you don’t miss new episodes every Friday evening....

French grape growers are being paid to pull out vines in order to rebalance supply and demand, while those in Australia have taken out millions and turned to other crops. In New Zealand, with our Sauvignon Blanc still in demand, growers are being offered a tool to help them decide whether to mothball vines until the market improves. Braden Crosby of the Marlborough-based Bragato Research Institute...

Anisha eats locusts at a food-grade insect farm in Dunedin. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Otago farmer, vet and entrepreneur Becks Smith has many jobs. You might find her on a roof installing solar panels, scanning ewes in the yard or sitting in front of a microphone for her podcast about sustainability in farming. She is Country Life's guest this week. With thanks to: Becks Smith Make sure you’re following Country Life on your favourite podcast app, so you don’t miss new episodes ever...

A wrap of the week's news from RNZ's rural news team. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Gianina Schwanecke is talking bulls at a bull sale on the East Coast. Tangihau Angus stud is famous for setting the nation’s top prices. Can it do it again this year? Sally Round is at a coffee tree orchard in the Far North whose trailblazing owner Rob Schluter is on a new path to focus on the mystique of coffee and Anisha Satya sits down for a yarn on the farm with Bill Deans whose family farm in...

Ikarus coffee has been a trailblazer growing coffee in NZ. Fourteen years after the first successful seedlings went in, Rob Schluter has doubled the number of coffee trees on his steep farm above Doubtless Bay, and there's a new venture brewing to bring the magic of coffee to life from farm to cup. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With than...

For the past two years Tangihau Angus had set the top price for the breed and all bulls - breaking two national records. Gianina Schwanecke returned to see how they'd fare this year. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . You can catch our previous story on Tangihau Angus, here . Or learn more from them directly, here . With thanks to: Paul Hickm...

Bill Deans shares how planting waterways on his family's farm have provided a home for New Zealand's second-rarest native fish. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Bill Deans Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country for the month of June Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Country Life heads to Gore for the Tussock Country Music festival, visits a woollen mill in the heart of a remote hill country station whose farmer has fulfilled her dream of creating a hub for wool, and Nuffield scholar Lisa Portas chats about the potential for New Zealand farmers to increase the value of the fibre. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpag...

Anisha visits Gore for a slice of the Tussock Country Music Festival - boots, utes, mullets and all! You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Annabel Roy, Jaydin Shingleton, The Rusty Pickups, Sandra Campbell, and Laura Koot Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Taking the wool off the sheep's back and turning it into yarn within a few paces of the shearing shed has been a dream come true for a North Island sheep farmer. Patrizia Vieno has built a mini mill on her hill country station near Tinui. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Mel Kiernan and Patrizia Vieno Go to this episode on r...

A wrap of the week's news from RNZ's rural news team. You can find more from RNZ's rural news team, here . Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Wairarapa-based Nuffield Scholar Lisa Portas recently wrapped up her research looking into why New Zealand's strong-wool sector struggles to capture value despite producing a sustainable fibre. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . You can find her Nuffield Scholar report, here . With thanks to: Lisa Portas Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for mo...

This week Country Life heads to a basketball game to celebrate rural migrants, checks out the new tech at Fieldays and follows the journey of urban food scraps to a banana farm. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . In this episode: 0:00 - Rural News Wrap 8:41 - Galvbike: E-bike makers riding agritech wave at Fieldays 16:43 - Migrants give back...

Food scraps from retirement villages and schools are heping to nourish a banana orchard and other farms via the City to Farm project, which aims to keep organic waste out of landfill and help curb climate change. This story was first broadcast in July 2025. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Betsy Kettle, Phil Grainger, Jenny...

Anisha learns how the rural Filipino migrant community has grown in the last 20 years - and watches some basketball. You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here . With thanks to: Guillermo and Christina Tolentino, Kristine Asuncion, Aline Ciron, Vincent Travasas and Edwin Patulin Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details