The Country

We yarn with the 2025 FMG Young Farmer of the Year - a Waikato sheep and beef farmer who finished third in the 2023 Grand Final when representing Otago/Southland. 

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ANZ’s chief executive ponders whether farmers are still paying too high a margin for their rural borrowing, the OCR announcement Wednesday, the prospect of a capital gains/wealth tax, and the age of eligibility (and means testing) for national super. 

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A former Labour Minister of Forestry has his say on carbon farming and offers a solution for transitioning unproductive hill country to pines and then to native regeneration (for carbon credits). We also discuss his rumoured candidacy for NZ First and whether he’s been shoulder-tapped by Winston.

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We ask Monday’s resident weather expert if we are officially in the chilly depths of winter.

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Jamie Mackay talks to Dame Lisa Carrington, Craig Piggott, Christopher Luxon, and Taine Randell 

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Jamie Mackay talks to Taine Randell, Te Radar, Chris Brandolino, Lawrence Field, and Chris Russell. 

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We talk carbon credits, forestry, farming and footy with a former All Blacks captain who still has nightmares about the French rugby team!

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It’s day two of three for the FMG Young Farmer Grand Final. We head to Winton to catch up with the voice of the contest for an update.

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We catch up with Earth Sciences New Zealand’s (formerly known as Niwa) principal scientist, who has no shortage of weather to talk about!

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We preview the Rabobank farm succession workshops with a Wairarapa farm accountant, hobby farmer and former 1995 Sharemilker of the Year.

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Our Australian correspondent talks biosecurity, and Trump ignoring Albo!

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Jamie Mackay talks to Sir David Carter, Wayne Langford, Peter Weir, Jock Ross, and Craig "Wiggy" Wiggins.

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The chairman of Ruralco, and Banks Peninsula farmer, on the history of the co-operative. Carter is also the former Speaker of the House and former Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, so he discusses the state of today’s politics and agriculture. He also says he’s not a fan of carbon credits.

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The president of Federated Farmers on flooding in the Tasman region and how his Golden Bay farm is doing.

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The former president of the New Zealand Forest Owners Association says we could learn from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, where farming and forestry coexist peacefully.

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A former All Black gives his opinion on the current team, before discussing Heartland rugby.

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We catch up with a rural health advocate to find out what he’s been up to lately. 

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Jamie Mackay talks to Christopher Luxon, Craig Piggott, Anna Palairet, and Matthew Zonderop. 

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We ask the Prime Minister if he’s doing a Sir Keir Starmer; excelling on the world stage and dropping the ball at home on the domestic front? And does he have a “Big Beautiful Bill” waiting in the wings?

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