Rural
Country Life for Friday 12 July 2024
This week Country Life meets a couple who have restored the old post office in rural Taranaki and ... a new pest trap driven by artificial intelligence is being rolled out around the Orokonui… Audio
Hawke's Bay horticultural recovery requires millions more - report
A consultancy report updates the estimates done shortly after Cyclone Gabrielle, dropping the initial budget by about a quarter of a million dollars.
Deer industry pushes to expand NZ's venison market in US
North America is already the biggest market for New Zealand's venison but most of it is consumed in restaurants - the goal is to get more people cooking it at home.
Mapping Tai Rāwhiti's worst eroding land
Gisborne District Council plans to designate high-erosion areas where farming and forestry must cease.
A burned-out writer, 12 sheep, and 12 life lessons
John Connell was an investigative journalist, documentary maker and author of multiple bestsellers when the creative well ran dry. Audio
Kohirā Solar Farm: Northland sheep benefiting from the power of the sun
Kohirā is a solar farm near Kaitaia that is experimenting with agrivoltaics - combining agriculture with harvesting the energy of the sun. They run sheep under the solar panels and are looking at… Audio
What's the model sheep of the future?
Sheep breeders will increasingly have to address issues like animal welfare and the right to farm when they consider improving their sheep's genetics, experts say. But the biggest issue facing… Audio
East Coast farmers 'feel forgotten'
Farmers in Te Tai Rāwhiti have made huge progress since Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc on the region last year. However, successive severe weather events mean the work is far from over. Audio
On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country
Apple growers in Hawkes Bay are busy pruning trees and pulling out old blocks. Further south, farmers on the West Coast are feeding out silage, moving breaks and getting ready for calving. Audio
Country Life for Friday 5 July 2024
Country Life looks at a farming system known as agrivoltaics where traditional agriculture runs alongside solar farming and Cosmo's at a sheep breeders field day on Banks Peninsula, to find out how… Audio
Dumped roosters running wild Whakatāne
Dumped roosters are roaming Whakatāne, but residents concerned for their welfare say it's hard to get anyone to take responsibility.
Wool prices solid, but farmers hoping for rises in future
A review of the latest wool season shows prices were stable, with some wool types approaching three-year highs.
Glorit? Never heard of it
You've probably never heard of Glorit until Northland's power was cut off the other week - Leonard Powell went there to have a look around Audio
Midday Rural News for 3 July 2024
Geo-political tensions will make trading conditions difficult for our exporters. Audio
Farmer's fight with depression: 'We lost Wayne, bit by bit'
Tyler Langford says watching her husband succumb to mental illness was like watching him "disappear before your eyes". Video
Kaputī and kaitiakitanga in Taemaro Bay
Sandra Heihei is the 17th generation of her family living in remote Taemaro Bay. She and her husband Alfonso live off grid and are among kaitiaki of this ancestral coastal land. Passing on knowledge… Audio
Compost replaces chemical fertilisers on South Otago dairy farm
Regenerative farming suits Mark Anderson down to the ground. He's focused on putting as much life and diversity back into the land and says the benefits to the entire farm, and his own well-being, are… Audio
Bringing kiwi back to the capital: A national taonga returns to Wellington
A night out tracking the new kiwi which call Wellington, and Terawhiti Station, home with the Capital Kiwi Project team. Audio
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news from RNZ's rural news desk. Audio