Rural
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… Audio
'A lot of people are moving back'
A former Taumarunui meatworks has a new lease of life as a pet food factory - and is providing plenty of jobs for locals. Audio
Farming family donates significant land to community
A prominent Bay of Plenty farming family is giving up 100 hectares of farmland that has served them for 60 years.
ANZCO posts full-year profit, bucking industry trend
The profit is a standout considering other major meat players, Silver Fern Farms and Alliance, have posted big losses.
Sheep farmers cutting costs, looking for new income sources as prices plummet
One of them said Wellington was "a vortex sucking cash out of the rest of the economy".
In pictures: From 'shocker' kumara crop to 'best in 20 years'
After the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Gabrielle, Kaipara's kumara growers are celebrating a bumper harvest.
The future of farming: Robots and drones
NZ could have a competitive advantage to be the closest to net zero dairy in the world, fifth-generation farmer Stu Taylor says. Audio
Duck hunting season begins with first wheelchair-accessible maimai
It's the opening day of the game bird season and more than 5000 shooters are expected to turn out today in the Otago region alone.
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… Audio
From the Archives - D-Day for Ducks
In 1973 Alan Wilkes was out with his Labrador Zara and comrades at the opening of the duck shooting season. This story from the Spectrum archives was recorded on Kohangatera, a network of lagoons… Audio
Duck shooting - a family tradition
West Otago farmer, Adrian McIntyre, says the late grain harvest down his way means there are plenty of ducks around for the opening of the duck shooting season. The first weekend is a bit like… Audio
On the Farm - a wrap of conditions around the country
Many drought-declared areas have now had some rain, but farms still have very low pasture covers going into winter. There's been superb weather for the gold kiwifruit harvest in Bay of Plenty which… Audio
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… Audio
Midday Rural News for 3 May 2024
Farmers are preparing to cull crop-eating ducks from their farms. Audio
Canada dairy trade dispute a 'betrayal of our friendship', ACT says
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand will not back down.
Govt hopes live animal exports will resume next year
The government is hoping live animal exports will resume next year, but with a strict gold standard in place. Audio
Four home dialysis machines break down on 3-year-old in a week
"They should be condemned, the lot of them. They fault constantly," says the mother of preschooler Harper Cromie.
Te Kuiti residents worried about losing only ambulance
Residents of the King Country town of Te Kuiti are worried they are about to lose their only ambulance. Waikato reporter Natalie Akoorie reports. Audio
