Country Life
934 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago -Country Life takes you down country roads to meet ordinary people achieving their dreams.
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Episodes
A Roar Experience
April 16, 2021 09:40 - 13 minutes - 12.3 MBStags are roaring on Andrew Wellington's Waikato farm. It's an exhausting time of year for them - not only is it mating time but they're on patrol - constantly on the lookout for other stags.
Off the Grid and in the Wild
April 16, 2021 09:30 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBLevi Harrison has answered the call of nature. The modern hunter gatherer lives in the bush in Golden Bay with his partner Annika Korsten. They practice primitive living and are not only surviving, but thriving in the outdoors.
Honest Wolf - accessories from the Turakina Valley
April 16, 2021 09:20 - 12 minutes - 11.2 MBSophie and Sam Hurley are turning some of their wool clip into bags, caps, wallets and laptop sleeves. They've been in business less than a year but orders are flying out the door - or rather rumbling down their gravel road towards their destinations.
Heartland Tractor Trek heads south
April 16, 2021 09:07 - 3 minutes - 3.62 MBA group of tractor loving mates are driving their vintage Chamberlains around New Zealand to raise money for Heart Kids New Zealand. The charity provides essential support for families that have a child with heart defects.
Country Life for 16 April 2021
April 16, 2021 09:05 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBDeer farming in the roar, hunter gatherers who have honed their survival skills, an entrepreneurial farming couple who are now making caps and bags from their wool clip and the Regional Wrap.
Spirits are up for maker of Blue Agave Tequilana Drink
April 09, 2021 09:38 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBGolden Bay is a long way from home for the Agave tequilana plant, a native of Latin America and most commonly found in Mexico. Terry Knight is growing several thousand of the succulents to produce a top-shelf spirit at his distillery at Motupipi.
Book details use of Coromandel granite in NZ landmarks
April 09, 2021 09:19 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBLindsay Garmson has written a book on Coromandel's now defunct granite industry. Granite from Paritu Bay can be found in grand buildings throughout New Zealand and in most of our cemeteries.
Pesky Possum
April 09, 2021 09:07 - 5 minutes - 5.11 MBBen Stubbs killed 800 possums in his QE2 block just after Christmas. He earnt more for the fur from those animals than he did from his wool cheque off 2000 ewes. He says it makes you view road kill differently. Would you drive past a $5 note on the road? Probably not.
Full Episode for Friday April 9 2021
April 09, 2021 09:04 - 50 minutes - 46 MBCountry Life this week talks to a man who's a mine of information about Coromandel's granite industry and meets an entrepreneur making tequila out of his own exotic plantings.
A Turning Tide
April 03, 2021 04:05 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBA small scale, commercial market gardening enterprise is feeding Raglan locals with a range of fresh vegetables.
Galloping on at Castlepoint
April 02, 2021 08:38 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBLast month thoroughbreds, station hacks and ponies were saddled up for the annual horse races at Castlepoint Beach. The races started back in 1872 and apart from wartime and stormy years when the beach was too rocky, they've been held every year since marking the end of summer at this small coastal community.
Just Kai - calling Tonga
April 02, 2021 08:19 - 4 minutes - 4.39 MBCountry Life has a new occasional series - Just Kai - where we catch up with farmers and growers in the Pacific to hear about what they are growing and how they are faring. Vea Takai's husband Keni Takai grows vanilla and other crops on 'Eua.
Full Episode for Friday April 2 2021
April 02, 2021 08:07 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBIn Country Life this week - paddock-to-plate in a Raglan market garden and a slice of the action from the Castlepoint Beach Races which have been going for nearly 150 years.
Grape crop on track for an excellent vintage
April 02, 2021 05:07 - 6 minutes - 5.65 MBWill Bowman is part of the team that farms and ferments grapes at Black Estate's three organic vineyards in the Waipara Valley. He also makes his own wine from locally sourced grapes. His first bottles of 2020 Pinot Noir, Riesling and Rose and are about to be released. The wine is called Vita, which means 'life' or 'to be alive' in Italian.
An angel on the trail
March 27, 2021 02:15 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MBMary Nettle is what's known as a trail angel. She feeds and waters bikepackers on the 3000 kilometre Tour Aotearoa cycle ride from her travelling kiosk, raising funds for her local community hall.
Happy to be farming hops
March 26, 2021 08:38 - 19 minutes - 17.6 MBHarvesting is the busiest time of year for hop farmer Cameron Ealam and his extended family who are working from dawn to dusk picking, cleaning and drying several varieties of aromatic hop cones that grow on the long leafy vines at Holmdale Farm near Wakefield.
The 90s File - Richard Waugh
March 26, 2021 08:17 - 8 minutes - 7.5 MBTwenty-eight-year-old Richard Waugh buys in 50 tonnes of waste vegetables each week to feed his herd.
Flooded Farms
March 26, 2021 08:07 - 2 minutes - 2.34 MBNew South Wales farmer Graham Forbes says stock have died and lots of milk has had to be spilled because of widespread flooding near his farm at Gloucester.
Country Life for 26 March 2021
March 26, 2021 08:05 - 49 minutes - 45.7 MBFlooded Farms; On the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ; The 90s File - Richard Waugh; An Angel on the Trail; Happy to be farming Hops.
Under Five Hundy - Hunterville
March 19, 2021 08:40 - 20 minutes - 18.3 MBSeventy five percent of people who pass through Hunterville on State Highway 1 have not turned off into its main street. Those who do are often surprised. Hunterville has fewer than 440 residents and a strong culture of mucking in.
Lincoln graduate climbs ladder at Ngāi Tahu Farming
March 19, 2021 08:22 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MBIn just a few years, the 30-year-old Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year has gone from interning to running the show at Ngāi Tahu Farming's huge Te Whenua Hou dairy development in North Canterbury. Ash-Leigh Campbell is also chair of New Zealand Young Farmers and sits on the board of Dairy NZ's Environmental Leaders Forum.
A Legacy for NZ Wine - inside the Bragato Research Institute
March 19, 2021 08:17 - 5 minutes - 5.05 MBThe Bragato Research Institute has just celebrated a year since its opening. Winegrowers and those in the wine supply chain can have their products and technology tested at the shiny new lab in Blenheim, named after an early 20th century viticulturalist who saw much potential in New Zealand for wine.
Country Life for 19 March 2021
March 19, 2021 08:05 - 49 minutes - 45.6 MBOn the Farm - a wrap of farming conditions around NZ; A Legacy for NZ Wine - inside the Bragato Research Institute; Lincoln graduate climbs ladder at Ngāi Tahu Farming; Under Five Hundy - Hunterville.
Cropping's in the blood for Canterbury farmers
March 12, 2021 08:40 - 20 minutes - 19 MBThe running of a mid-Canterbury cropping farm has transitioned from father to son, but it's still hard for Syd Worsfold to step back and watch Earl take over the reins of the family's Greendale property.
A Fellow called Fencer Fred
March 12, 2021 08:17 - 10 minutes - 9.34 MBFencer Fred has spent nearly three decades lugging farm posts and number 8 wire to out of the way spots to build and repair the vital infrastructure needed to keep stock in place on the farm.
A Side Hustle in Saffron
March 12, 2021 08:17 - 8 minutes - 7.57 MBHaley Heathwaite was looking for something "a bit different and a challenge" when deciding on a crop of her own to grow alongside her job with a Gisborne seed company. She chose saffron, the precious spice made from the crocus sativus flower which she grows in Tolaga Bay.
Few takers for safety subsidy
March 12, 2021 08:07 - 3 minutes - 3.16 MBOf the 35,000 farmers and businesses eligible to access a subsidy for crush protection devices for quad bikes, only 270 have taken it up.
Country Life for 12 March 2021
March 12, 2021 08:05 - 51 minutes - 46.8 MBCountry Life for 12 March 2021.
Doubling Up at Te Whare Ra
March 05, 2021 08:40 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBAt Te Whare Ra vineyard in Marlborough the Flowerdays grow seven different varieties of grape on 11 hectares and some of their vines are the oldest in the region - planted back in the 1970s. Raising two sets of twin girls over the past two decades haven’t held them back reinvigorating the vineyard using organic and biodynamic techniques.
Championing Climate Change
March 05, 2021 08:15 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBFraser McGougan is an Eastern Bay of Plenty dairy farmer. He is the new chair of the Dairy NZ backed Climate Change Ambassadors group - 13 dairy farmers from properties throughout New Zealand. They are a mix of farm size and age.
Blooming Better - nursery buoyed by Covid flower sales
March 05, 2021 08:15 - 11 minutes - 10.7 MBThe Aromaunga Baxters Flowers nursery in Heathcote, Christchurch sits right above the point where the earthquake struck on 22 February 2011. The greenhouses on the steep slopes of the Port Hills, as well as a big old villa and other brick buildings were badly damaged. Ten years on co-owner John Baxter says the earthquake damage is still being repaired, but sales have been boosted by a lack of imported flowers due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Full Episode for Friday March 5 2021
March 05, 2021 08:03 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBOn Country Life tonight, a family owned nursery is buoyed by Covid flower sales as earthquake repairs continue at the Port Hills property, two sets of twin girls have not held back two winemakers reinvigorating one of Marlborough's oldest vineyards - Te Whare Ra, and a dairy farmer is embracing climate change.
A coast to coast adventure for at-risk youth
February 26, 2021 08:40 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBThe 180 Degrees Trust runs youth development programmes for at risk young people in Canterbury. The biggest event on its calendar is the Southern Alps Traverse, a gruelling, character-building adventure for teenagers that starts at a beach near Kumara Junction on the West Coast, and ends several days later at Brighton Beach in Christchurch.
New grower on the block
February 26, 2021 08:30 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBWaitatapia Station's Hew Darlymple says he's been surprised at the intensity of growing fresh vegies. "It's relentless, absolutely relentless." Cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower are now grown on the 2000 hectare station along-side sheep, beef, barley, maize, wheat and oats.
Birds vs Birds
February 26, 2021 08:15 - 2 minutes - 2.42 MBGisborne Grape grower James Millton encourages territorial birds to visit his vineyards during the harvest in the hope they'll see off others intent on pecking his grapes.
Irish shearer Enda Bradley
February 26, 2021 08:07 - 3 minutes - 2.97 MBCountry Life's guest this week is Irish shearer Enda Bradley, one of the foreign agricultural workers who've been allowed into New Zealand during the pandemic to plug gaps in the labour market during the shearing and harvest season.
Full Episode for Friday February 26 2021
February 26, 2021 08:03 - 51 minutes - 46.7 MBA Coast to Coast Adventure for at Risk Youth, growing vegies in Rangitikei, controlling birds on vineyards, foreigner worker shearing and the Regional Wrap.
Miro - Bringing jobs home
February 19, 2021 08:40 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBMiro is a collective of Māori businesses, trusts, whānau, hapū and iwi growing blueberries on Māori-owned land to increase its productivity and create jobs.
Champion pollinators buzzing for winter break
February 19, 2021 08:30 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBThe drop in honey prices has prompted Kirwee beekeeper Glynn Cleaver to focus on pollination services rather than honey collection. This week Glynn has been collecting his hives from cropping farms in the district.
Memories from Colville
February 19, 2021 08:15 - 9 minutes - 8.6 MBLes Ward's family arrived in the northern Coromandel Peninsula in the late 1890's having no idea of how challenging life on the land there would be - then and now.
Full Episode for Friday February 19 2021
February 19, 2021 08:03 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBOn Country Life tonight, Growing blueberries on Maori-owned land .... and the drop in honey prices has prompted Kirwee bee keeper Glynn Cleaver to focus on pollination services rather than honey collection. With the season nearly over, Glynn has been collecting his hives from cropping farms in the district.
Banking on hemp becoming mainstream
February 12, 2021 08:35 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBJamie Engelbrecht was born and bred on a sheep and beef property in Waimate then studied farm management at Lincoln University. He quit his job recently as an ASB rural manager to focus on a hemp growing and processing business he started with some Lincoln mates a couple years ago.
Trees, Trees, Trees
February 12, 2021 08:25 - 8 minutes - 8.23 MBWilly and Kelsi Haenga's Gisborne-based business, FarmCare, is plugging a gap helping busy farmers plant trees to keep waterways clean and stop erosion.
A Rabbiting Life
February 12, 2021 08:15 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBMax Nelson is one of the last of the old-time rabbiters who fought plagues of rabbits in places like the back country stations of Marlborough. He worked for Awatere Rabbit Board in the 1960s and a lot of his work was battling the pest on Molesworth Station.
Full Episode for Friday February 12 2021
February 12, 2021 08:03 - 49 minutes - 45.8 MBOn Country Life tonight, an old-time rabbiter shares stories of his life fighting the rabbit plague on Molesworth Station and Cosmo talks to Jamie Engelbrecht who quit his bank job to focus on hemp growing and processing - a business he started with some Lincoln mates a couple of years ago.
Mustering at Molesworth
February 05, 2021 08:34 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBFor the musterers at Molesworth Station, it's an early start to beat the heat. Josh, Duncan, Connell and Liam are moving the cattle during the mating season. Country Life spends a day with the stockmen, the farmer and the cook, peeling back some of the mystique of New Zealand's most famous farm.
The Dream Team: Jess, David and Bronwyn Hill
February 05, 2021 08:20 - 13 minutes - 11.9 MBA Raglan dairy farming family set up a wee milk bottling plant three years ago. They produced 30 litres of drinking milk a week and delivered it to local customers. Now they bottle and deliver 5000 litres - in one litre bottles - from the west coast to the east coast. Soon they'll stop supplying Fonterra altogether and may start looking to make cheese. They only have 150 cows but there are nine people on their payroll.
Calling all Young Farmers
February 05, 2021 08:07 - 4 minutes - 4.03 MBThe FMG Young Farmer of the Year competition is back says New Zealand Young Farmers CEO Lynda Coppersmith. The 2020 season was cancelled for the first time in the contest's 52 year history due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Full Episode for Friday February 5 2021
February 05, 2021 08:05 - 50 minutes - 46 MBCountry Life is out with musterers on horseback at Molesworth Station, New Zealand's largest farm and demand is soaring for milk from a small Raglan farm.
Shedding sheep hot under hammer
January 29, 2021 08:30 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBBidding was competitive at the Mt Cass Station Wiltshire Sheep Sale in North Canterbury. Nearly 3500 sheep reached higher than expected prices at Andrew and Sara Heard's farm and were sold to bidders from Kerikeri to Cromwell. Wiltshires shed their wool annually and are becoming popular with farmers and lifestyle block owners seeking an easy-care meat breed.