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Country Life headlines with summaries.
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Country Life: Conditions on the farm
28 Feb 2025Grapes are being picked in Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, Taranaki's in drought and the hop harvest is about to start in Tasman. Audio
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Meet Hamish Best, one of this year's Zanda McDonald Award finalists
We check back in with Hamish Best of red meat retailer Conscious Valley just outside Wellington. A keen ag student the last time he spoke to Country Life, he's now a finalist for the prestigious…
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Farmers turn weed into wellness products
Hemp grows beside wheat, barley and peas at Blair and Jody Drysdale's farm in Northern Southland. The seeds are pressed and made into nutritional oil and skincare cream, that the couple sell direct to…
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Topdresser notches up major milestone in 'tractor of the skies'
15 Feb 2025Aerial topdresser John Bargh has notched up 30,000 hours in the air in nearly five decades spreading fert on hill country farms. Despite tough economic times, his passion for flying remains.
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Green shoots showing for grower two years after Cyclone Gabrielle
14 Feb 2025When Cyclone Gabrielle, fourth-generation orchardist Cameron Taylor sprang into action rescuing people from rooftops in his Taylor Corporation helicopter.
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Gut fixing seaweed cuts methane emissions from cattle
16 Feb 2025Red seaweed - grown in Bluff - significantly reduces methane emissions in beef and dairy cattle with no adverse effects to the animals, their products or the environment, scientists say.
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Farm strides ahead on the back of Tora Coastal Walk
It's 30 years since the Elworthy family began the Tora Coastal Walk, one of the first multi-day hikes on farmland in NZ. It's been the key to this rugged farm's survival.
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A huge shearing event raises $150,000 for charity
Dozens of shearers slipped on their moccasins recently to sheer hundreds of sheep to raise funds for charity.
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Full circle composting on a Tararua dairy farm
10 Feb 2025The team at Waka Dairies near Dannevirke is turning waste from milking cows into fertiliser that can be worked back into the farm.
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Farmers count blessings with "life-saving rain" but others under pressure
31 Jan 2025Radio New Zealand's Country Life team regularly check in with farms and orchards around the country. Here's the latest regional wrap -- it is dry out there for farmers.
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From pup to pro: Miley the Huntaway hits her stride
31 Jan 2025We catch up with Miley the young Huntaway and her trainer Chris Shaw as she celebrates her first birthday and see what this pup has been up to. You will be blown away by how much progress she has…
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"We'd known each other for 17 years before we got married!"
31 Jan 2025There's never a dull day on Kaihoka, the Wyllie's isolated Golden Bay farm, which has been the backdrop for scenes from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
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Chef couple finds new home on the range
20 Dec 2024Wallingford Homestead in Central Hawke's Bay was once a bustling base for the local farming community. These days it's helping bridge the urban-rural divide and provides employment opportunities for…
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'Cutting the trees down is part of the experience'
20 Dec 2024Thousands of perfectly shaped trees are harvested in the lead-up to the festive season at Andrew McAllister's Needle Fresh Christmas tree farm in Swannanoa. In a next door paddock he's created a huge…
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Rodeo girls giddy up for new season
22 Dec 2024The rodeo season is underway and Waikato sisters Lylah and Riley Wood are in an arena practising their rodeo skills, a sport which has taken them to the US with a national youth team this year.
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A Golden Bay farm grows, processes and sells Angus beef and lamb direct to the public
13 Dec 2024Sustainability, animal welfare and forging a connection between producer and consumer are at the core of how things are done at Ellis Creek Farm, near the Abel Tasman National Park in Golden Bay.
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Gearing up for farming life
What's it like for a young couple beginning their farming journey in difficult times?
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Green shoots for Hawke's Bay apple industry with 'well-needed' capital injection
Country Life: Shane Flynn from Craigmore Sustainables explains why they see a bright future for the region's horticulture sector.
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How pills for cows and 'light recipes' may help slow global warming
7 Dec 2024A range of tools are not too far off to knock back greenhouse gases from livestock burps.
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Milking does and making cheese, all in a day's work
6 Dec 2024"We do the whole process here on the farm because it preserves the quality of the milk. It's only traveling from the barn to my cheese kitchen."
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'Defend the shed' - how the poultry industry has been preparing for a bird flu outbreak
8 Dec 2024How are chicken and egg farms protecting themselves from avian flu? Country Life visited a broiler chicken farm to find out what good biosecurity practice involves.
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Could biochar be the wonder product for forestry and farming?
30 Nov 2024A large farm and forestry operation in the Far North is keen to turn its slash from upcoming harvests into something that benefits the land, climate and stock.
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Ditching the lawn mower and other curious ways to grow great tomatoes
29 Nov 2024Meet Anthony and Angela Tringham, of Curious Croppers, the couple growing heirloom tomatoes using agroecology principles.
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Trug-making almost a lost art
30 Nov 2024Tony Hitchcock has been crafting trugs - wooden garden baskets - for several years using untreated willow or hazel and poplar sourced locally from around Golden Bay.
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