News
"Bring the cash in a suitcase and the farm's yours!"
Karamea dairy farmer Peter Langford says he and his wife Debbie are ready to hang up their gumboots. With none of their four children keen on taking over the farm, it's now up for sale - lock, stock…
AudioHard work makes dreams come true
Christopher and Siobhan O'Malley stand in a paddock with smiles that could melt one of the nearby West Coast glaciers. The couple have finally achieved their long-term goal of farm ownership and now…
AudioA green fingered grower with tunnel vision
Adrian Merhten's hydroponic journey began 20 years ago after being inspired by a local vegetable grower. He was a baker then, but now he's known in Hokitika as "The Lettuce Man".
AudioA quacking good win for Willow the Duck
This year, for the first time in the National Poultry and Pigeon Show's long history, a duck is the Champion of Champions. Willow, a rare Silver Appleyard duck who hales from the South Island town…
AudioComposting barn better for cows and land, says Karamea farmer
Frano Volkman's cows will soon be snuggling up on a thick bed of woodchips and sawdust in their new 6,300m2 composting barn. The organic fertiliser formed underneath Volkman's herd will be spread onto…
Audio'Get your hands dirty!' says soil advocate and farmer
Australian food writer-turned-food activist Matthew Evans was in North Canterbury last weekend talking to local growers about what keeps the earth, and us, healthy.
AudioA natural ferment - it's the yeast we can do
The winemaking process starts in the middle of the vineyard at Greystone Wines in the Waipara Valley. Juicy pinot noir grapes are poured into a large vessel among the vines and exposed to wild yeasts…
AudioHealthy home for chooks at clifftop egg farm
When Anna Penn's flock of 3,000 hardy hens stop pecking and look up, they can watch waves crashing into the shore. They're residents at New Zealand's southernmost commercial egg farm, overlooking Te…
AudioAmbitious farming sisters develop fashion and food hub
The shearers' quarters at Davaar Station are a popular stop-off for locals and tourists on the Te Anau-Mossburn Highway. Inside, Anna Macdonald tickles their taste buds with sweets while her older…
AudioAdventure trails and organic garden add X-factor to family farm
In the last few years, Tom O'Brien's Southland farmland has become home to a hand-built bike and hiking track and an organic market garden.
AudioSouthland farmer caught on the hop
Harvesting is about to get underway at Garston Hops which has gone from traditional sheep farming to a two tier operation with big plans afoot.
AudioLou Lou the Cow Whisperer
Cows are Laura Murdoch's passion. She shares her everyday interactions with them on Facebook and Tiktok and some of her Cow Whisperer videos have racked up quite a few views.
AudioMad about Mahinga Kai
Karl Russell has been gathering food from local rivers all his life and has witnessed the decline in water quality. Now he educates farm leaders on the importance of protecting the waterways for…
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