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Featured Country Life stories
Extreme rainfall 'a peek into the future'
One expert says the kind of weather events New Zealand was now experiencing on a regular basis had long been warned of. Audio
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Country Life: Behind the scenes at the Roy's berry farm
20 Dec 2025The Roy family all pitch in getting berries from orchard to Christmas plate over the festive season. Country Life goes behind the scenes of the Christmas berry…
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'It's the magic of training, the magic of animals'
13 Dec 2025Teens and kids at Bex Tasker's place find joy and life skills training farm animals.
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Rural life in the big smoke
13 Dec 2025Being right in the middle of Auckland city and surrounded by city-dwellers comes with its challenges for Cornwall Park farm.
Country Life headlines with summaries.
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'No plans to ship to the US': Tariffs bite into apple grower's profits
Tariffs on a range of New Zealand exports including apples were first introduced in April at 10 percent, and increased to 15 percent in August.
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You say 'Wayleggo' and I say 'Wal-a-go'!
6 Dec 2025How do sheep dogs and shepherds' handling techniques vary between New Zealand and Australia? The best teams battle it out at a Trans-Tasman dog trial, the Wayleggo Cup.
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Cash cows more like cash bulls
6 Dec 2025Tangihau Angus near Gisborne has a habit of breaking records. Last year it set a top price for New Zealand bulls at $135,000. This year it's done it again, setting a new record price of $161,000.
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Risqué and rural
6 Dec 2025How an unusual business selling adult toys has found opportunity on the main street of Eketāhuna.
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Hawke's Bay farm's agritourism 'terroir'
29 Nov 2025Set on the coast of Hawke's Bay, Te Aratipi Station offers walkers on the farm views across the bay, from the Māhia Peninsula right around to Mt Ruapehu on a clear day.
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Keeping salad greens on the shelves, 52 weeks of the year
29 Nov 2025Since officially opening last April, Leaderbrand's Future Farms facility has allowed it to grow salad greens all year round.
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Smashing it - a greener life growing avocados
29 Nov 2025Spreading the love for avocados through farm tours is a way to balance the highs and lows of avocado growing for two IT pros turned orchardists.
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'I never thought I'd be called a poo hunter': Inside facial eczema study
Wairarapa sheep farmer Paul Crick is one of hundreds out collecting poo samples from his flock as part of a national study.
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Farmer flying high with agri drone venture
22 Nov 2025Te Kuiti farmer Mitchel Hoare has a new side hustle, operating a drone to help other farmers improve the land.
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Inside the 25-year journey to the perfect kiwifruit
22 Nov 2025It's a long game developing the kiwifruit of the future - up to 25 years from concept to shop shelf. Fruit that thrive in a wetter, warmer climate and with less chemical input are among those in…
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NZ committed to climate target despite Australian opposition dumping net-zero
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said New Zealand's government would not follow Australia's coalition.
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A look inside Massey University's 'outdoor farm classroom'
15 Nov 2025Set on 40 hectares near the university's Palmerston North campus, the Large Animal Teaching Unit, is home to a menagerie of animals for veterinary students to work with.
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Romance meets reality - farming the high country
15 Nov 2025There's romance attached to living in the Mackenzie High Country, but is that still the case? Growing up in the region's harsh winters and hot summers, it's the only life Simon Williamson has known…
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Jefferson Fellow Kate Green on the future of food security
15 Nov 2025RNZ reporter Kate Green has recently returned from parts of Southeast Asia as part of a Jefferson Fellowship exploring food security issues across the region.
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Saving seeds, saving stories
8 Nov 2025There's a story to many of the heritage seedlings which Jemma Ostenfeld grows on a patch of borrowed land in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
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A Southlander inside the mega dairies of China and Russia
8 Nov 2025Berwick Settle has worked on some of the biggest dairy farms in the world, where cows never go outside the barn and must take regular showers to stay cool and keep the milk flowing.
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The latest overseas investment in NZ
A lily bulb processing plant, production forests and land for a gold mine buffer zone are some of the latest purchases by international investors.
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Being 'the keeper of the community's stories'
1 Nov 2025Eketāhuna Museum is a treasure chest of curiosities which shines a light on the small town's Scandinavian heritage and the challenges of running a country museum.
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Breeding the 'wagyu of lamb' for an ever-changing environment
1 Nov 2025Alastair Reeves has followed in his father's footsteps, using genetics to help farmers solve problems on farm by breeding sheep that make for good eating, are tolerant of facial eczema and emit lower…
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It's a 'numbers game': Company's quest to breed low methane-emitting bulls
1 Nov 2025The team of scientists at LIC, the Livestock Improvement Corporation, hope to know by late next year if they can offer farmers more methane-friendly bulls.
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Clydesdales: 'He's not really a horse, he's a person'
27 Oct 2025Billy is quite the character and Cate Smith describes him as her mother's one true love.
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Battling off-roaders and pests at Thornton Lagoon
25 Oct 2025Ben Banks is trying to protect the fragile dunes, wildlife and vegetation at a coastal lagoon near Whakatāne trapping for pests but there's another threat to the area - the four-wheeled kind.
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'You're never very far away from rural life in New Zealand'
25 Oct 2025Husband and wife duo Te Radar and Ruth Spencer have recently partnered together on a new book 'Kiwi Country: Rural New Zealand in 100 Objects'.
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Bikes, art and walking shoes all welcome on new Canterbury trail
25 Oct 2025Volunteers are nearing completion of the first leg of a new trail for walkers, runners and cyclists in South Canterbury.
Top News stories
- Watch: 'New Zealand stands with you' - vigil held for Mount Maunganui landslide victims
- Caulerpa makes dramatic retreat in areas but 'sure as hell, this beast will be back'
- Families rely on donations to pay for school uniforms, stationery
- Hastings Councillor skips planning session at marae over te reo and faith concerns
- Second Mount Maunganui landslide victim formally identified as Swedish tourist
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