Country Life

This week Country Life is behind a team of Clydesdale horses on a vintage wagon, finding out about the increasingly rare breed, and heads to a sale of farm gear in Wairarapa, where one of the last local rehab soldier farms has been sold into forestry.

This week Country Life is behind a team of Clydesdale horses on a vintage wagon, finding out about the increasingly rare breed and heads to a sale of farm gear in Wairarapa where one of the last local rehab soldier farms has been sold into forestry.

Listen to Country Life

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A round-up of the week's agricultural news.

Changes to the RMA could mean an end to some winter grazing regulations.

Listen to a wrap of the week's rural news

A wrap of the week's rural news from RNZ's rural news desk including proposed changes to the Resource Management Act which could see winter grazing regulations and stock exclusion rules scrapped or amended to hope of a recovery in exports to China. Find out more

The mandarin harvest is underway.

Mandarin growers are in the midst of their picking season, and though the quality is great, yields are down and prices are lower because people just aren't buying. Find out more

Kūmara growers are glad to be back in business after last years' floods.

Meanwhile, kūmara growers are glad to be back in business after last year's floods. Find out more here

Zespri has had to delay its kiwifruit marketing campaign in Europe after an infestation of mice was discovered in the fruit holds of the first charter vessel of the season. Find out more

And there are hopes the New Zealand Agricultural Show will still go ahead in November. Find out more

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Panadda Chittock is the pastoral care co-ordinator at Thomas Brothers Orchards in Riwaka. She supports about 80 Recognised Seasonal Employer or RSE workers from Vanuatu and Samoa who work on the orchard.

Panadda Chittock is the pastoral care co-ordinator at Thomas Brothers Orchards in Riwaka. She supports about 80 Recognised Seasonal Employer or RSE workers from Vanuatu and Samoa who work at the orchard.

Listen to the interview with Panadda Chittock

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

One of the last rehab soldier farms in Wairarapa has been sold for forestry, and the farm gear is going under the hammer. Gianina Schwanecke is at the on-farm sale and finds out why the owner is selling up.

Sue and Richard Hay.

For more than 40 years, Richard and Sue Hay have called Tarewa home.

The 870-hectare sheep and beef farm off Castlepoint Road, about 20 minutes east of Masterton, started as a ballot block, which Richard took over from his father.

Learn more about the farm's history here

Tārewa, which means mortgage or loan in te reo Māori, was won by Richard's father in 1949 as part of the rehab or ballot block scheme.

The government purchased blocks of land from larger stations to give to returned servicemen, whose names were drawn from a ballot.

"Some of the bigger stations had bits cut off them to help with all these returned servicemen coming back home, to get some of the land broken in and more productive," Richard says.

His father served in Italy, was wounded and then returned home to farming.

"Luckily, his name came out of the hat. I just followed in my father's footsteps like my brother did."

While Richard's brother later took over a family block in Pirinoa, he and Sue moved to Tarewa in 1980.

Tarewa will go into forestry soon.

The farm started out as five very large paddocks, and Richard later purchased a neighbouring ballot block. Today, the farm is spread over more than 100 paddocks.

It has recently been sold into forestry, meaning the 4000 breeding ewes and 200 or so Hereford-Angus cattle that usually graze the land are to be sold.

Along with the livestock, a farm clearance sale saw agricultural, hay-making, fencing, docking and stock-handling gear put up for auction. The catalogue represented a lifetime of work on the land.

The decision to sell, especially into forestry, wasn't an easy one.

Thirteen years ago, Richard and Sue lost their son James in a car crash. He had been preparing to take over the farm, and his death meant Richard once again took the reins.

"The last five years have been pretty tough."

Richard Hay (right) talks to neighbour Paul Kuchenbecker (left) about one of the items for sale.

Trying economic conditions - such as high interest rates, possibly worse than those experienced when the Hays first started farming - have prompted the sale.

"One of the positives at the moment is beef. Lamb has gone down at the moment. I think another couple of years, once the few hiccups come out of the system, it will pick up."

The challenging landscape was reflected at the clearing sale where some bidding was lower than expected…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Country Life takes a walk with mountain ranger Tāne Houston through the forest on the slopes of Mt Taranaki. We head up the volcano along a trap line, resetting bait, foraging and chatting about the progress made in restoring the landscape.

https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6351213811112

Imagine your office as the side of a mountain, and one as revered as the great volcanic peak at the heart of the Taranaki region.

It's the place of work - but also a place of wellbeing - for mountain ranger Tāne Houston.

If you're out on one of the tracks, you might bump into him checking traps or passing on his knowledge to visiting school kids.

He's part of the Taranaki Mounga project which aims to bring the maunga and the community living around it back to health.

Tall and burly, Tāne strides ahead of me as we head up the track one morning in early autumn.

He wears trampers' leggings, well worn boots and a high viz vest.

His pockets are bulging with all the things you might need for trapping and keeping safe in the bush.

Listen to Tāne Houston talk about his work on Mt Taranaki

Just before the path begins to rise steadily up the mountain flank, Tāne stops to offer karakia.

"This maunga is my grandfather, this maunga is my grandmother," he explains.

"I engage with the mountain as a living being."

Mt Taranaki is considered to be a sleeping active volcano (pdf). The last major eruption was around 1655.

It stands just over 2500 metres high, one of the most symmetrical volcanic cones in the world, like an island, surrounded by a sea of rich fertile farmland.

That makes it somewhat easier to get rid of predators and pests and fulfill the project's mission of restoring the landscape.

The Mounga project, a collaboration between several organisations and volunteer groups, has been going nine years and it covers 34,000 hectares, including the Pouākai and Kaitake ranges to the northwest of the mountain and the Ngā Motu/Sugar Loaf Islands.

In 2021-2022, goats were stamped out after an intensive hunting campaign, but the war against other pests - ferrets, stoats, weasels, rats and increasingly feral cats - continues.

Feral cats like bear cubs

Tāne has been with the project four years now. He's worried about the increasing number of feral cats being caught in the lower regions of the mountain.

He says the cats - two or three generations down from their domesticated ancestors - appear to have evolved to suit the wild.

They look like bear cubs, with thicker fur and stubbier, stronger legs and necks, he told Country Life…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This week Country Life is out with a mountain ranger foraging and checking traps on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and meets the farmer behind a champion milker. Also, a Massey University research project reveals what New Zealanders really think about farming.

Country Life heads out to check traps on the slopes of Mt Taranaki.

This week Country Life is out with a mountain ranger foraging and checking traps on the slopes of Mt Taranaki and meets the farmer behind a champion milker named Evie. Also, a Massey University research project reveals what New Zealanders really think about farming.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

This year's annual Canterbury A&P show has been canned, while there's mixed results at the meatworks where venison sales have bounced back but lamb prices remain at historical lows, and new research suggests growing demand for alternative proteins could change the future of farming.

The annual Canterbury A&P show, which sees country come to town in Christchurch, has been canned​.

A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Monique Steele.

The annual Canterbury A&P show, which sees country come to town in Christchurch, has been canned over financial viability challenges, with organisers saying two years of Covid-19 disruptions and a financial loss last year meant it was just not feasible this year.

Venison exports to the US have soared in recent months.

Venison sales have bounced back after taking a hit during the pandemic, but more dairy cull cows flowing into the works has resulted in meat companies lowering their prices and lamb prices remain at historical lows. Most North Island processors are paying between$6.00 and $6.30 a kilogram. Down South sheep are going for $5.80 to just over $6.00 a kilo.

It's a mixed bag at the meatworks.

Two red-meat sector research projects have just received a major funding boost from the New Zealand Meat Board - $1 million is going towards tackling facial eczema and another $700,000 is going to an existing project giving farmers beef genetics tools to increase productivity and profitability.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A lot of urban dwellers get their information about farming from supermarkets, new research suggests. A Massey University research project surveyed over 1300 urban and rural people about their views on farming.

A lot of urban dwellers get their information about farming from supermarkets, new research suggests.

A Massey University research project surveyed over 1300 urban and rural people about their views on farming.

This urban-rural connection point is one of several key findings that came out of the Diverse Experiences of Farming project, that was co-funded by Our Land and Water National Science Challenge.

Dr Janet Reid from Massey University's School of Agriculture & Environment co-led the research. She spoke about the findings at the Food, Farming & Freshwater Roadshow in Renwick in February.

Hear more about the research here

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A 40-litres-of-milk-a-day Friesian called Evie has been Supreme Champion Holstein at the New Zealand A&P Agricultural Show for two years in a row. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes meets the farmer behind the cow.

A 40-litres-of-milk-a-day Friesian called Evie has been Supreme Champion Holstein at the New Zealand A&P Agricultural Show for two years in a row. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes meets the farmer behind the cow.

Listen to Olivia here

"I'm a born and bred dairy farmer," says Oliva Cahill who milks 180 cows on the North Canterbury farm her parents bought when she was seven.

She farms there with her dad, Peter Sherriff, who is a third generation dairy farmer.

"I do all the morning milkings and he does all the evenings and we're both on the farm throughout the day," she says.

You'll only find one breed of cow on the 152-hectare Ohoka property - big, beautiful, black-and-white Holsteins.

"We use mainly North American genetics, they're all pedigree cows and we're producing about 8000 litres of milk every second day at the moment."

Olivia also runs the Sherraine Holstein Stud on the farm. She's continuing a long-standing family tradition.

"It's about 100 years of breeding. My grandfather started breeding Holsteins back in 1923."

Six-year-old Sherraine Solomon Evie is a prime example of the high-performing herd's genetic calibre.

"She's calm, she's got great bone, she milks well, she's calved every year and she produces a lot of milk."

When Olivia approaches Evie in a paddock she's the last cow to get up.

They've developed a kinship after spending many hours together preparing for shows.

Show cows like Evie are usually taken out of the main herd five or six weeks before a major competition.

"We get them used to being tied up, break them in if they've never been on a halter before, we put them on hay and a show-mix meal, so just getting them into a routine."

Even though the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch will be cancelled this year, Evie will still get the opportunity to make it a three-peat.

Livestock judging and competitions would still be held, without the public crowds, as was the case in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges.

Farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges.

"I'm here to just listen and learn," said Awatere Valley sheep and beef farmer, Warwick Lissaman, who was at the event in Renwick.

"We've got so many things that we can do. It's about putting things in the right order to make the most impact and that's why the science that's been done is invaluable to us," he said.

Find out about some of the research projects here

The roadshow presents research commissioned by the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge. It was launched a decade ago by the then-National government.

Dozens of research projects around managing land use and water quality have been undertaken to enhance the productivity of the primary sector.

Mark Woods, a rural engagement advisor for Our Land and Water, is managing the roadshow that's been to heartland towns like Balclutha, Alexandra, Tokora, Taumarunui and Taihape.

"It's one thing to produce really good research and science, but we need to make sure that people in rural communities hear about it directly from the researchers, and get the opportunity to ask them questions," he said.

In Renwick, six researchers spoke passionately about their projects to 70 farmers, viticulturists and rural professionals. First up was CEO of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand, Tiffany Tompkins.

"She's got a tough gig because agriculture in New Zealand hasn't necessarily always looked at somebody from organics with a lot of favor, and she's done a very interesting piece," Woods said of her research project, EU Green Deal: Impact on NZ's land-based primary producers.

Tompkins says the Green Deal is a framework that puts a plan in place across all facets of the European Union's economy to be Climate Neutral by 2050.

"There are many strategies and plans that touch on agriculture. So the biodiversity strategy, the zero pollution strategy, the farm-to-fork strategy, the bioeconomy strategy, but what's important is all of those strategies reinforce the goals that have been set by the Green Deal," she says

Jim White, the technical and sustainable development director from Cloudy Bay vineyards, was stimulated by her presentation.

"I just think it's really interesting to get a an update on what's happening with the EU and the legislation and how that's going to impact us," he said. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details