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Country Life headlines with summaries.
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Prices not that bullish at Charolais sale
A herd of young bulls went under the hammer at the annual Silverstream Charolais and Hereford Stud sale in Motukarara, but with farmers tightening their belts, prices were back a bit compared to last…
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The secret life of bees
14 Jun 2024With more than 50 years' experience in the apiary industry, Frank Lindsay is a hive of information when it comes to all things bee.
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Country Life for Friday 7 June 2024
This week Country Life catches up with a collector of rare and exotic sheep breeds who has just sold his farm, we learn about how a Taranaki dairy farmer's collection of antique farming books and…
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From the Archives - The Country Vet
This 1975 Spectrum documentary follows a day in the life of rural Gisborne veterinarian, Mac Wallace. His day begins with a cow having trouble calving and ends at Turehau station, where a group of…
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Of all sheep and sizes
A large part of Brian Hales' farm recently sold and will soon go into pines. We caught up with the sheep and beef farmer, to find out what was happening to his flock of rare and exotic sheep breeds.
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NZ's top milking herd is small, but mighty
Taranaki dairy farmer Cliff Shearer's practices may seem old-fashioned, but they've helped him make his way into the history books.
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Dam project aims to stop flooding in Christchurch's Early Valley
A series of dams to capture stormwater as it runs off the Port Hills are being constructed on farmland near Christchurch. It's the brainchild of Brent and Shirley Rawstron from Rossendale Wines, who…
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Reaping pink gold from South Island hydro canals - caviar harvest
Mt Cook Alpine Salmon in the Mackenzie District began experimenting with caviar three years ago and is in the midst of its short harvest period. Sally Murphy caught up with the company's chief…
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Country Life for May 31 2024
This week on Country Life, caviar being farmed in Mackenzie Country, a flood-prone vineyard in Canterbury which has created flood prevention basins to keep dry and a woollen sock company which is at…
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Norsewood factory Norsewear a sign of close-knit community
The Norsewear factory in Norsewood is a community affair, with families, an entire volunteer fire brigade and neighbours working alongside each other over the decades. They have been celebrating 60…
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Shear-will and the power of traditional healing
Serena Lyders has found her calling as a traditional Māori healer, giving back to rural communities and working with shearers all around the motu.
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Forging through tough times
Blacksmith Jamie Hughes has a niche business crafting knives and hand-forged metalwork for chefs, farmers and tourists from his smithy in Norsewood. Tough economic times means he's feeling it from all…
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Country Life for Friday 24 May 2024
This week Country Life meets a traditional Māori healer helping shearers around the motu and things heat up in a blacksmith's forge in Norsewood. Later we explore a native forest that grew from rough…
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"Nature's itching to put the bush back"
From a block of gorse-infected scrubland on Banks Peninsula, renowned botanist Hugh Wilson has spent half a lifetime growing Hinewai Reserve into a 1600-hectare paradise of regenerated native forest…
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Sowing the seed for Māori to grow food
17 May 2024Country Life visits a food garden in Taranaki, where whānau are getting their hands in the soil and finding out how to sustain themselves from their own backyards.
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Fernhill - From DOC to dairy on the family farm
Fifth generation dairy farmer Jason Christensen took a break from the family farm to try life as a DOC ranger. His experience in the world of conservation, evident on the Mt Bruce farm in the…
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Country Life for 17 May 2024
17 May 2024This week on Country Life we hear about a country vet's daring horseback escape from Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. We meet Pounamu Skelton who is on a mission to help Maori…
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Vet's extraordinary escape after 9-11
17 May 2024Neil and Sandra Chesterton and their two sons escaped Afghanistan over the mountains on horseback after 9/11. The Inglewood vet was working for a charity there. He and Sandra chat to Country Life…
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The not-so-lame story of a country vet
Who knows what goes on in a herd of cows as they walk to the milking shed? Plenty, according to Inglewood vet Neil Chesterton, who has made this his life's work and become a world-renowned expert on…
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Feeding time at the zoo
Have you ever wondered where all the food for Wellington Zoo's 500 animals come from? The answer might surprise you... Gianina Schwanecke meets with the zoo's animal science manager to find out more…
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Country Life for 10 May 2024
This week Country Life is at the last day of the kumara harvest in Northland, joins a quartet of otters at Wellington Zoo for dinner to learn more about where the animals' food comes from and speaks…
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The last day of the kumara harvest with Doug Nilsson
It's the last day of the kumara harvest at Dunsmore Gardens, a farm on the outskirts of Dargaville. It's also time to celebrate after the grower lost 99 percent of his crop last season.
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Country Life for Friday May 3 2024
This week Country Life meets a young couple who left their city life to set up a mushroom farm and heads to the maimai with a hunter at daybreak at the start of the duck shooting season half a century…
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City couple's mushroom venture sprouts from pandemic
On the rural outskirts of Taupō a young couple have started a mushroom venture far removed from their previous life in Auckland. Maggie Tweedie took a trip to a small block of land amid the green…
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