The Country

Is a well known rural commentator who has his say on the rural banking enquiry, the contentious issue of areas of significance to Māori, plus he weighs in on the American election. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) has released its annual Stock Number Survey, showing a notable decline in both sheep and cattle numbers as of 30 June 2024. Sheep numbers are estimated to have decreased by 4.3 percent, down to 23.31 million, with breeding ewe numbers falling by 2.9 percent and the lamb crop is anticipated to decrease by 4.8 percent (970,000 head) on last year. Beef cattle numbers a...

Jamie Mackay talks to Phil Duncan, Anne-Marie Roerink, Tom O'Sullivan, Nigel Woodhead and Blair Drysdale. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monday’s resident weather expert updates the polar vortex blast making its way up the country. Freezing air from Antarctica is spreading into some southern and eastern parts of the South Island and brushing the lower North Island today before being quickly pushed eastwards out over the Pacific Ocean from an incoming high-pressure zone out of Australia on Tuesday/Wednesday. See omnystudio.com/liste...

Part One: In the first of our series on Global Market Insights with Silver Fern Farms, we travel to sunny Florida to talk to a woman who extols the virtues of “The Power of Meat” as an analyst and commentator of 20 years standing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part Two: We ask why chicken is perceived as a more ethical option than beef, and what is the future for meat when all the carnivorous Boomers shuffle off this mortal coil? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does strong wool have a future? Hawke’s Bay farmer and the former chairman of the Campaign for Wool NZ Trust certainly thinks so and reckons the answer is not just carpeting floors, it’s looking at covering the four walls and the ceilings as well. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Southern “polar-blasted” farmer panel features the 2017 Young Farmer of the Year and an award-winning arable farmer. Today we yarn about the World Ploughing Champs in Estonia and the Federated Farmers Arable Awards in Christchurch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamie Mackay talks to Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie, Jane Smith, Christopher Luxon, and Ben Picton. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamie Mackay talks to Chris Brandolino, Stu Duncan and Stu Loe, Chris Russell, Rowena Duncum, and Barry Soper. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Our NIWA Weather Guy has a new $20 million Super Computer and some much-needed rain for North Canterbury!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's farmer panel talks farming, footy, interest rates and the Big Dry.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian correspondent on breakdancing, and how sheep, dairy and grain farmers are faring across the Tasman.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Heartland Rugby is kicking off this weekend. And Wanganui's No.1 fan kicks it off on The Country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our political commentator ponders gene editing, the PM in Oz and who he reckons will win the Whitehouse.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamie Mackay talks to Ben Picton, Richard McIntyre, Peter Newbold, Jo Luxton, and Cameron Henderson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rabobank’s senior economist expresses some surprise with yesterday’s OCR announcement where the Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 5.25%. It is the first cut since March 2020. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federated Farmers Banking Spokesperson says the broad scope of the banking inquiry announced this week will hit the mark for farmers and rural communities and that farmers have been asking serious questions about the levels of competition, profitability and transparency in rural lending for a long time now - and it looks like they’re about to get answers.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

PGG Wrightson's Real Estate GM takes his monthly look at the state of the rural market and pays tribute to a long-time servant of the company.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We last chatted to Labour's Ag Spokesperson on July 15. But haven't heard boo from her since! Does Labour actually have any agriculture policies? Or are they asleep at the wheel?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is a Dairy NZ director and North Canterbury dairy farmer. Today we yarn about the ongoing dry in his region, the improving prospects facing the industry and why urgent RMA changes are being welcomed to avoid an avalanche of red tape around regulation around discharges.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamie Mackay talks to Christopher Luxon, Wayne Langford, Nadia Lim, Carlos Bagrie, and Dr Jacqueline Rowarth. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The PM ponders the OCR announcement this afternoon from the Reserve Bank and we ask if it's realistic, or too ambitious, for the Government to double export earnings in the next decade. He then answers a farmer's question on our "pathetic communication network" when it comes to rural mobile reception and broadband coverage. And finally, are there any risks in overturning the nearly 30-year ban on...

The President of Federated Farmers says yesterday’s gene tech announcement, overturning a 30-year ban, was a positive step forward for NZ, and the Feds have been encouraging a national conversation about technologies such as gene editing for a long time now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We catch up with a couple of well-known Central Otago farmers who moonlight as a celebrity chef and a Nuffield Scholar, respectively. We look back on the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of Season 2 of Nadia's Farm .  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.