Country Life

By RNZ

Society & Culture

What's Country Life about?

Country Life takes you down country roads to meet ordinary people achieving their dreams.

We live in a beautiful country and we'd love to show it. Have you got a great photo? Drop us an email below.

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Country Life episodes:

04.19.2024
Mt Taranaki ranger Tāne Houston - 'we let the forest talk for itself'
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...
04.19.2024
'She's got everything you want in a 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.
04.19.2024
The diverse experiences of 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.
04.19.2024
Rural News Wrap
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...
04.19.2024
Country Life for Friday April 19 2024
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...
04.12.2024
Research showcased at food, farming and freshwater roadshow
Farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges.
04.12.2024
Rural Riders spins farmers' wheels - 'I smile a lot here'
Rural Riders is a chance for farmers to get off the farm on a bike, spin some yarns and focus on the dips and the jumps rather than the weather and the milk price.
04.12.2024
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
04.12.2024
Eric Fa'anoi - a view from both sides of the fence
Eric Fa'anoi has gone from helping farmers protect the environment to being a farmer himself. A visit to his ancestral village in Samoa also helped this young man from Porirua unearth his interest in agriculture.
04.12.2024
Country Life for Friday 12 April 2024
This week on Country Life, farmers and growers around the country have been getting together to hear about research which might help New Zealand agriculture adapt to future challenges. The team also catches up with Rural Riders, a group of...
04.05.2024
From techie to market gardener - 'Getting made redundant really pushed me'
Morgan Kane moved back home when she lost her job at a tech start up. It was the start of her move, with her husband, into market gardening. She and her parents welcome the advantages of multigenerational living and the...
04.05.2024
Sheds and cupboards cleaned out for Banks Peninsula fundraiser
Every year on Easter Saturday, unwanted bric-a-brac goes under the hammer at a huge Paddy's Market and White Elephant in Akaroa. It's run by the Akaroa and Bays Lions Club, which raises thousands of dollars for the local community
04.05.2024
Brothers turn rivals as they compete for top farmer title
Brothers Callum and Archie Woodhouse have been named the top two finalists in this year's East Coast Young Farmer of the Year competition. We catch up with the siblings as they prepare for the next round of the competition.
04.05.2024
On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country
Rain is still needed in many parts of the country. Hay and baleage is being trucked around to ensure stock get the feed they need. The grape harvest is well through in Central Otago with good yields and clean fruit.
04.05.2024
Country Life for Friday 5 April 2024
This week Country Life meets a young woman who lost her job in the tech industry and turned things around by getting her hands in the soil and starting up a market garden. The team also heads to Banks Peninsula...
03.29.2024
From cow to cone - a big scoop from Nelson
Jersey milk from Murray King's farm on the lower Waimea River flats is crafted into award-winning ice cream. "We had to find a way of generating better income than we would by producing whole milk powder with the major dairy...
03.29.2024
Finding the flock - searching for stories from Flock House
A search is underway for descendants of hundreds of British boys sent out for farming training in New Zealand a century ago. Flock House, a flagship agricultural school in New Zealand was set up 100 years ago. What ever happened...
03.29.2024
Raising fowls for families impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle
A hen rescued from floodwaters in Cyclone Gabrielle is helping bring back life to farms one year on. Hawke's Bay farmer Sally Newall hatched the idea to gift chicks to families impacted by the cyclone to help get them back...
03.29.2024
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
03.29.2024
Country Life for 29 March 2024
Appleby Farms, Flock House centenary and Cyclone Chicks
03.22.2024
Rare bird returns to Wairarapa wetlands
A distinctive booming sound is returning to the Wairarapa Moana. Most of the surrounding wetlands have been lost after land was drained for farming. Now, after years of rehabilitation work, more of the Australasian Bittern have been heard lately. Country...
03.22.2024
Low-cost posts for farms and no landfill charges for vineyards
A start-up in Marlborough is busy repurposing damaged vineyard posts, that were used to hold up the canopy, into sustainable posts for farm fencing.
03.22.2024
A taste of the future of dairy
Justin Gregory tries Daisy Lab's prototype precision-fermented products, which aim to have the texture and mouthfeel of dairy product, but are made without input from a cow.
03.22.2024
Rural News Wrap
A declaration of drought for Otago and Canterbury unlocking new funding support for struggling farmers.
03.22.2024
Country Life for Friday 22 March 2024
This week Country Life takes you to an Auckland lab making cheese without the need for a cow, and a start-up in Marlborough which is busy recycling damaged vineyard posts into low cost posts for farm fencing, to wetlands in South...
03.15.2024
From woolshed to bed - two sisters spin their homeware dreams
How did two sisters design throws and blankets using lambs wool from the family farm? Kate Cullwick and Prue Watson share the secret to their Foxtrot Home business success and why it's essential to spread the good word about New...
03.15.2024
A blast from the past - Mustering in Marlborough
It's 1956 and in the heat of February seven shepherds, a pack train and 40 dogs drove 4000 ewes from remote Bluff Station, 90 kilometres down the back country to Kekerengu for shearing.
03.15.2024
Young fruit growers climb the hort ladder
Kaahu Birdling and Jordan Popata are supervisors at Thomas Brothers Orchard in Riwaka. They manage their own teams and are embracing every opportunity to learn about leadership and orchard management.
03.15.2024
Country Life for Friday 15 March 2024
From woolshed to bed - two sisters spin their homeware dreams, Young fruit growers climb the hort ladder, A blast from the past - Mustering in Marlborough and a wrap of the week's rural news
03.15.2024
A wrap of the week's rural news
More government support will be heading the way of farmers and growers in the Marlborough, Tasman and Nelson districts where an intense dry spell has been labelled a medium-scale adverse event.
03.08.2024
'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers
Every Thursday afternoon, Banks Peninsula farmers head to the beach in Hickory Bay and ride waves to forget about work. Farmer and surfing coach, Kristin Savage, runs the Surfing for Farmers initiative, which doubles up as an apres surf catch-up...
03.08.2024
"Fresh ideas, younger muscles" - taking on the family farm
Sarah Maxwell switches from inseminating cows in the morning to shifting cows and sheep in the afternoon, working at the local sale yards and more besides.
03.08.2024
'No turning back' - horsetrekking from Bluff to Picton
Karolin van Onna and her friend had dreamt about horse trekking the length of the South Island for years - and last summer they finally did it.
03.08.2024
Country Life for Friday 8 March 2024
'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers, a back country dream comes true on horseback, Sarah Maxwell's farming journey and a wrap of the week's rural news.
03.08.2024
A wrap of the week's rural news
A chat about the top stories this week from RNZ's rural news team with Susan Murray in Kirikiriroa Hamilton.
03.01.2024
Inspired farmers take action to clean waterways
A catchment restoration project in the Marlborough Sounds is bringing a farming community together to tackle water quality issues and achieve wider conservation goals
03.01.2024
Wool, sweat and shears - Golden Shears underway in Masterton
The Golden Shears is underway in Masterton, and from early Thursday the War Memorial Stadium has been buzzing to the sound of shears, woolhandlers' brooms and the cranking of wool presses.
03.01.2024
Australian winegrowers protest over plummeting returns
Many wine growers in Australia's largest wine region are in crisis mode due to plummeting prices for their grapes. Chris Archer works in the Australian and New Zealand wine industries and has been following developments.
03.01.2024
On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the country
Kiwifruit are looking good in Hawkes Bay. Some flooded vines have died but generally recovery is better than expected. Conditions are very dry in Marlborough so many farmers are offloading stock due to concerns over feed and water levels.
03.01.2024
Country Life For Friday 1 March 2024
Behind the scenes at the Golden Shears, a conservation project in the Marlborough Sounds, crisis among Australia's winegrowers and On the Farm
02.23.2024
Sheafs, cabers and tartan on show at Turakina Highland Games
Tartan, bagpipes, sheafs and cabers were out in force at the Turakina Highland Games, billed as New Zealand's longest-running such event. They're into their 160th year.
02.23.2024
'He's a very good looking pig, that one!'
Rick Martin and Nairn Illingworth farm a drove of happy heritage pigs on their small farm in Marlborough's Onamalutu Valley
02.23.2024
Truck driver takes to the water to reach farms
A large blue truck and trailer unit has become a common sight in the Marlborough Sounds as it's barged to farms to pick up and drop off livestock.
02.23.2024
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy.
02.23.2024
Country Life for Friday 23 February 2024
This week on Country Life, how stock are barged in and out by sea after roadways are blocked, a visit to the Turakina Highland Games, and a chat with heritage pig farmers in Marlborough.
02.16.2024
Ancestors roots run deep at Wairau Pā vineyard
Haysley MacDonald was born and bred on the family farm near Marlborough's Wairau Bar, or Te Pokohiwi. The coastal land, that overlooks Cloudy Bay, is where his ancestors first landed over 800 years ago, and have lived there ever since...
02.16.2024
Farming to the beat of his own drum
Former Wellington Percussionist, Jeremy Fitzsimons, is now based on the family farm in the Kauaeranga Valley near Thames. Bryan Crump paid him a visit.
02.16.2024
Farmers from around the world, Jana Gäbert
Jana Gabert runs a dairy farm about 30 kilometres south of Berlin. She is among farmers around Europe who have taken to the streets in protest about increasing costs and regulation amid high competition, loss of tax breaks and climate...
02.16.2024
Rural News Wrap
A round-up of the week's agricultural news with RNZ rural news reporter Sally Murphy. This week marked a year since Cyclone Gabrielle tore through the East Coast of the North Island, causing wide spread damage to farms and orchards.
02.16.2024
Country Life for Friday 16 February 2024
Ancestors roots run deep at Wairau Pā vineyard, Farming to the beat of his own drum, Farmers from around the world: Jana Gäbert, dairy farmer from Germany and the Rural News Wrap.

What's Country Life about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Country Life episodes:

Mt Taranaki ranger Tāne Houston - 'we let the forest talk for itself'

'She's got everything you want in a cow'

The diverse experiences of farming

Rural News Wrap

Country Life for Friday April 19 2024

Research showcased at food, farming and freshwater roadshow

Rural Riders spins farmers' wheels - 'I smile a lot here'

Rural News Wrap

Eric Fa'anoi - a view from both sides of the fence

Country Life for Friday 12 April 2024

From techie to market gardener - 'Getting made redundant really pushed me'

Sheds and cupboards cleaned out for Banks Peninsula fundraiser

Brothers turn rivals as they compete for top farmer title

On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country

Country Life for Friday 5 April 2024

From cow to cone - a big scoop from Nelson

Finding the flock - searching for stories from Flock House

Raising fowls for families impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle

Rural News Wrap

Country Life for 29 March 2024

Rare bird returns to Wairarapa wetlands

Low-cost posts for farms and no landfill charges for vineyards

A taste of the future of dairy

Rural News Wrap

Country Life for Friday 22 March 2024

From woolshed to bed - two sisters spin their homeware dreams

A blast from the past - Mustering in Marlborough

Young fruit growers climb the hort ladder

Country Life for Friday 15 March 2024

A wrap of the week's rural news

'Give us a break!' say surfing farmers

"Fresh ideas, younger muscles" - taking on the family farm

'No turning back' - horsetrekking from Bluff to Picton

Country Life for Friday 8 March 2024

A wrap of the week's rural news

Inspired farmers take action to clean waterways

Wool, sweat and shears - Golden Shears underway in Masterton

Australian winegrowers protest over plummeting returns

On the Farm - a wrap of conditions on farms around the country

Country Life For Friday 1 March 2024

Sheafs, cabers and tartan on show at Turakina Highland Games

'He's a very good looking pig, that one!'

Truck driver takes to the water to reach farms

Rural News Wrap

Country Life for Friday 23 February 2024

Ancestors roots run deep at Wairau Pā vineyard

Farming to the beat of his own drum

Farmers from around the world, Jana Gäbert

Rural News Wrap

Country Life for Friday 16 February 2024