Sally Round
Sowing the seed for Māori to grow food
Country Life visits a food garden in Taranaki, where whānau are getting their hands in the soil and finding out how to sustain themselves from their own backyards. Audio
Vet's extraordinary escape after 9-11
Neil and Sandra Chesterton and their two sons escaped Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. The Inglewood vet was working for a charity there. He and Sandra chat to Country Life… Audio
Country Life for 17 May 2024
This week on Country Life we hear about a country vet's daring horseback escape from Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. We meet Pounamu Skelton who is on a mission to help Maori… Audio
The not-so-lame story of a country vet
Who knows what goes on in a herd of cows as they walk to the milking shed? Plenty, according to Inglewood vet Neil Chesterton, who has made this his life's work and become a world-renowned expert on… Audio
Country Life for 10 May 2024
This week Country Life is at the last day of the kumara harvest in Northland, joins a quartet of otters at Wellington Zoo for dinner to learn more about where the animals' food comes from and speaks… Audio
Duck shooting - a family tradition
West Otago farmer, Adrian McIntyre, says the late grain harvest down his way means there are plenty of ducks around for the opening of the duck shooting season. The first weekend is a bit like… Audio
On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country
Many drought-declared areas have now had some rain, but farms still have very low pasture covers going into winter. There's been superb weather for the gold kiwifruit harvest in Bay of Plenty which… Audio
Country Life for Friday May 3 2024
This week Country Life meets a young couple who left their city life to set up a mushroom farm and heads to the maimai with a hunter at daybreak at the start of the duck shooting season half a century… Audio
A love for Clydesdales - 'They just become your mates'
Steve Muggeridge's beloved Clydesdales have returned to Taranaki. Not far from the original family stud, at the base of the maunga, he chats about the changing use of the heavy horse and hitches a… Video, Audio
Country Life for Friday 26 April 2024
This week Country Life is behind a team of Clydesdale horses on a vintage wagon, finding out about the increasingly rare breed, and heads to a sale of farm gear in Wairarapa, where one of the last… Audio
Mt Taranaki ranger Tāne Houston - 'we let the forest talk for itself'
Country Life takes a walk with mountain ranger Tāne Houston through the forest on the slopes of Mt Taranaki. We head up the volcano along a trap line, resetting bait, foraging and chatting about the… Video, Audio
Rural News Wrap
This year's annual Canterbury A&P show has been canned, while there's mixed results at the meatworks where venison sales have bounced back but lamb prices remain at historical lows, and new research… Audio
Country Life for Friday April 19 2024
This week Country Life is out with a mountain ranger foraging and checking traps on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and meets the farmer behind a champion milker. Also, a Massey University research project… Audio
Rural Riders spins farmers' wheels - 'I smile a lot here'
Rural Riders is a chance for farmers to get off the farm on a bike, spin some yarns and focus on the dips and the jumps rather than the weather and the milk price. Audio
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy. Audio
Eric Fa'anoi - a view from both sides of the fence
Eric Fa'anoi has gone from helping farmers protect the environment to being a farmer himself. A visit to his ancestral village in Samoa also helped this young man from Porirua unearth his interest in… Audio
Country Life for Friday 12 April 2024
This week on Country Life, farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges. The team also… Audio
From techie to market gardener - 'Getting made redundant really pushed me'
Morgan Kane moved back home when she lost her job at a tech start up. It was the start of her move, with her husband, into market gardening. She and her parents welcome the advantages of… Audio