Country Life

Mark Leishman heads to a South Canterbury farm to join a drone pilot extinguishing weeds and finds out about the potential of the technology on farm.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Rowland Sommer
• SPS Automation

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French grape growers are being paid to pull out vines in order to rebalance supply and demand, while those in Australia have taken out millions and turned to other crops. In New Zealand, with our Sauvignon Blanc still in demand, growers are being offered a tool to help them decide whether to mothball vines until the market improves. Braden Crosby of the Marlborough-based Bragato Research Institute explains.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Braden Crosby

To find the mothballing decision-making tool, go to bri.co.nz

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Anisha eats locusts at a food-grade insect farm in Dunedin.

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Otago farmer, vet and entrepreneur Becks Smith has many jobs. You might find her on a roof installing solar panels, scanning ewes in the yard or sitting in front of a microphone for her podcast about sustainability in farming. She is Country Life's guest this week.

With thanks to:

• Becks Smith

Make sure you’re following Country Life on your favourite podcast app, so you don’t miss new episodes every Friday evening.

Want to chat to us or find out more about RNZ Podcasts? Join the RNZ Podcasts Discussion Facebook group where we share behind the scenes info about our series, and invite you to share feedback, recommendations and ask us questions.

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A wrap of the week's news from RNZ's rural news team.

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Gianina Schwanecke is talking bulls at a bull sale on the East Coast. Tangihau Angus stud is famous for setting the nation’s top prices. Can it do it again this year? Sally Round is at a coffee tree orchard in the Far North whose trailblazing owner Rob Schluter is on a new path to focus on the mystique of coffee and Anisha Satya sits down for a yarn on the farm with Bill Deans whose family farm in Canterbury is home to the rare and “chunky" mudfish.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

In this episode:

• 0:55 - On the Farm
• 8:09- On-farm planting creates mudfish haven
• 14:46 - A bullish market at the East Coast bull sales
• 28:18 - Brewing up a taste for New Zealand-grown coffee

With thanks to:

• Bill Deans
• Paul Hickman, Phil Shea, Dave Martin, Sarah Hussey, Neville Clark, and Dean McHardy of Tangihau Angus
• Marie-Elodie Proust, Haobo Tong, and Rob Schluter of Ikarus Coffee

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Send us your feedback or get in touch at [email protected]

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Ikarus coffee has been a trailblazer growing coffee in NZ. Fourteen years after the first successful seedlings went in, Rob Schluter has doubled the number of coffee trees on his steep farm above Doubtless Bay, and there's a new venture brewing to bring the magic of coffee to life from farm to cup.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Rob Schluter, Marie-Elodie Proust, and Haobo Tong

Make sure you’re following us on your favourite podcast app, so you don’t miss new episodes every Friday evening.

Want to chat to us or find out more about RNZ Podcasts? Join the RNZ Podcasts Discussion Facebook group where we share behind the scenes info about our series, and invite you to share feedback, recommendations and ask us questions.

Send us your feedback or get in touch at [email protected]

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

For the past two years Tangihau Angus had set the top price for the breed and all bulls - breaking two national records. Gianina Schwanecke returned to see how they'd fare this year.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

You can catch our previous story on Tangihau Angus, here.

Or learn more from them directly, here.

With thanks to:

• Paul Hickman, Phil Shea, Dave Martin, Sarah Hussey, Neville Clark, and Dean McHardy

All 56 bulls paraded through the pen sold, for an average price of *$24,550 each. Tangihau's top bull sold for $100,000.
*Corrected price

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Bill Deans shares how planting waterways on his family's farm have provided a home for New Zealand's second-rarest native fish.

You can find photos and read more about the stories in this episode on our webpage, here.

With thanks to:

• Bill Deans

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A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country for the month of June

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