The Country

Is solar panel farming the new carbon farming 2.0? We ask the chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa.

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Today’s farmer panel features a Canterbury dairy farmer and a Te Akau sheep and beef farmer. Both are former Young Farmers of the Year.

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We agree to disagree with the Green Party agriculture spokesperson on the future use of nitrogen fertiliser to feed the world.

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On the Opportunity Party and whether Christopher Luxon is under threat of being rolled.

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Jamie Mackay talks to Shane Jones, Todd Charteris, Lana Marshall, and Chris Russell.

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Matua Shane, the Prince of the Provinces, is excited about his 122-page report on NZ’s Minerals Royalty Regime Review where the take-home message is don’t be too greedy. We also discuss the economy, the Opportunity Party, Winston and the Greens, and the $9 million spent on traditional Māori massages.

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The chief executive of Rabobank comments on the bank’s latest August Agribusiness Monthly Report (titled “Good prices, but plenty to watch”), where the commodity outlook is strong but the cost of farm inputs is escalating. 

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We catch up with our third and final 2026 Zanda McDonald Award finalist and find out what she’s been up to since the awards in March, including a European OE, enduring the heatwave and observing British farming struggling.

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Our Australian correspondent talks bird flu, “slave” labour and a runaway coal train.

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Michelle Watt talks with Kate Fransen, Senior Project Manager at DairyNZ, about plantain research and some of the exciting results emerging from farmlet trials. They discuss how incorporating plantain into pasture can have positive impacts on farm performance and productivity.

To find out more about plantain and the Plantain Potency Programme, visit www.dairynz.co.nz.

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