Country Life
The Country Life team take you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of every day rural New Zealand.
Episodes
This week's Country Life is all about tech and science - from cutting edge ag drone, to collecting sheep poo samples to be processed in the lab as part of a national study, and the team helping breed the kiwifruit of tomorrow.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
In this episode:
- 0:46 - Rural News Wrap
- 5:52 - Farmers' ag drone venture takes flight
- 13:56 - 'Poo hunter...
It takes years to perfect cultivars and to keep New Zealand's kiwifruit industry ahead of the game. Country Life takes a tour of the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre in Te Puke and meets those helping create the fruit of the future.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Matt Glenn, Amardeep Nath, Megan Wood, and Thomas Paterson
Make sure you’re following us on your ...
Wairarapa sheep farmer Paul Crick is one of hundreds out collecting poo samples from his flock as part of a national study testing for the presence of spores which cause facial eczema in sheep.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
You can find more about the trial, here.
With thanks to:
- Paul Crick, Sarah Riddy and Cara Brosnahan
Two King Country farmers have trained up as drone operators to offer on-farm drone spraying services, a side hustle alongside their traditional farming work.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Mitchel Hoare
A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.
This week Country Life gets up close and personal with some of the animals at Massey University's teaching farm and heads to a high country station near Omarama where merino sheep run alongside shorthorn cattle.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
In this episode:
- 0:32 - Jefferson Fellow Kate Green on the future of food security
- 11:28 - Rural News Wrap
- 17:03 - Massey University&#...
There's a romance attached to living in the Mackenzie High Country, but does it still exist? For Simon Williamson it is the only life he knows. He grew up through the harsh winters and hot summers and loves the challenge of it.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Simon and Kirst Williamson
Make sure you’re following us on your favourite podcast app, so yo...
Set on 40-hectares near the university's Palmertston North campus, the Large Animal Teaching Unit, is home to a menagerie of animals for veterinary students to work with.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Mike Reilly, Professors Jon Huxley and Paul Kenyon
A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.
RNZ reporter Kate Green has recently returned from parts of Southeast Asia as part of a Jefferson Fellowship exploring food security issues across the region.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Kate Green
Country Life meets Berwick Settle who's worked on huge dairy farms in Russia and China, joins a shearing gang for a day and finds out about the world of heritage seed saving.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
In this episode:
- 0:30 - A kiwi's life in the world's largest dairy farms
- 9:30 - Rural News Wrap
- 15:23 - From the Archive: Sheep on the board
- 35:31 - Saving seeds,...
In this story for the long-running programme Spectrum, first broadcast in 1972, Jack Perkins joins a Wairarapa shearing gang, on a farm near Masterton. It starts at the beginning of a day's shearing, with sounds of sheep in the yards, dogs barking and shepherd's whistling.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
There's a story to many of the heritage seedlings which Jemma Ostenfeld grows on a patch of borrowed land in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Jemma Ostenfeld
A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.
Twenty years ago Berwick Settle was a Southland sharemilker. Since then he's worked in some of the biggest dairy farms in the world, helping set up farms in China and Russia where cows live year round in huge barns, a far cry from New Zealand's pastoral system.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
With thanks to:
- Berwick Settle
This week Country Life learns more about LIC's project to breed bulls which emit less methane, while a Waikato sheep farmer does the same, using genetics to reduce emissions. Also, from the future to the past, step back in time with the volunteers at Eketāhuna Museum.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
In this episode:
- 0:45 - On the Farm
- 8:17 - A 'numbers game': LIC&#...
Volunteers at the Eketāhuna Museum are getting ready to reopen. This treasure chest of curiosities shines a light on the small town's Scandinavian heritage and the challenges of running a country museum.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
You can read more about the Eketāhuna Museum, here.
With thanks to:
- Bruce Laurence, Chris Petersen, Ian Day, and Bridget Ferguson
Make s...
Alastair Reeves has followed in his father's footsteps, using genetics to help farmers solve problems on farm by breeding sheep that make for good eating, are tolerant of facial eczema and emit lower amounts of methane.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
You can learn more about Waimai Romney, here.
With thanks to:
- Alastair Reeves
The team of scientists at LIC, the Livestock Improvement Corporation, hope to know by late next year if they can offer farmers more methane-friendly bulls.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
You can learn more about LIC, here.
With thanks to:
- Dr Lorna McNaughton
A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.
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