Country Life

The Country Life team take you all over the motu to hear the extraordinary stories of every day rural New Zealand.

Hosted and produced by Sally Round, Gianina Schwanecke and Duncan Smith

On air:

Fridays at 7.00pm, encore on Saturdays at 7.00am on RNZ National

An abstract heart constructed from shapes similar to rural fields seen in aerial photography sits behind the text 'Country Life'.

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FULL SHOW: Country Life for 27 February 2026

Country Life is with blade shearers from around the world in a woolshed in Tinui and immersed in the many attractions of the tiny community of Duntroon. Sir Charles Godfray is the show's guest talking about how food systems will have to change in the face of global warming.
New episode
RNZ Country Life's Mark Leishman interviewing Colin Martin at Nicol's Blacksmith Shop Duntroon

Duntroon - the biggest little town in the valley

For a town of only 100 people, Duntroon has more than its share of attractions, with a blacksmiths, a master saddler, the intriguing Vanished World Heritage Centre with its fossils, and a Heritage Trail.
Master Saddler and Farrier Steve Smith shoeing Brook the gig horse at Nicol's Blacksmith Shop in Duntroon

Sharpening their edge for the Golden Shears

Blade shearers from around the world have been sharpening their tools and their eye before the Golden Shears in Masterton under the tutelage of Allan Oldfield, a world champion blade shearer, at a woolshed in Tinui.
Three shearers bending over sheep as they blade shear, seen between wool bales in the foreground

An Oxford professor on the future of food and food production

Sir Charles Godfray has told the Riddet Institute's Agrifood Summit our food systems will have to change in order to limit the impacts of global warming.
Sir Charles Godfray from Oxford University is a population biologist and director of its Future of Food programme.

Rural News Wrap

A round-up of the week's rural news
A sow pig inside a farrowing crate will be allowed to remain inside it for up to a week under new rules, down from 33 days.

FULL SHOW: Country Life for 20 February 2026

Country Life heads to Waipara for the Underground Festival, looks at the tradition of whiskey making in Southland and meets a biochar-maker north of Wellington.
Biochar in a bucket

Turning brewery gunk and forest junk into something good for the soil

Hops from a Wellington brewery, cotton offcuts from a fashion label and forestry slash has turned Matt Welton into a bit of a Heath Robinson. His first job was collecting scrap metal in London's East End and after careers as a prison officer and cartographer, he has come full circle, this time turning the organic waste he collects into biochar for farmers and growers on his Akatarawa property.
Matt Welton stands in front of his kiln

Moonshine matriarch: Southland's tradition of distilling Scottish whisky

A look inside the Hokonui Moonshine Museum where the manufacture of this legendary spirit continues in the modern day.
Stills from up in the Hokonui Hills have been recreated.

Rural News Wrap for 20 February 2026

A round up of news from RNZ's rural news team
Hawke's Bay's winegrowers are excited about this year's grapes and volumes.

A festival for farmers

Underground Festival organiser Fran Bailey chats with Anisha Satya about the idea, the execution, and what makes it different from other farming forums.
Underground Festival organiser Fran Bailey sits on a hay bale inside a tent at the event. There are people milling about in the background.

BONUS: The Detail - The wine industry headache

Bonus episode
Too many grapes, international headwinds and a dramatic drop in drinkers is proving problematic for our wine producers.
Two Paddocks' Red Bank Vineyard in the Earnscleugh Valley

FULL SHOW: Country Life for 13 February 2026

Country Life gets the latest on the beef market and cherry harvest, learns how pairing solar and horticulture could help with growing and joins one of Pāmu’s young apprentices on a King Country farm. Follow Country Life on your favourite podcast platform or listen on the RNZ website.
Many of the cherries will be destine for export markets ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year period.

Ruby jewels of Otago a Lunar New Year treat

A look at how Clyde Orchard's recent cherry and stonefruit harvest has gone and a tour of a new purpose built accommodation for its RSE workers.
Clyde Orchards has been owned and operated by the Paulin family since 1921.

Growing a farmer - Archie's life as a Pāmu apprentice

Archie's 17 and an apprentice to Micky, champion shearer and Pāmu farm manager on King Country sheep and beef farm Te Wharua. We head out mustering and Archie shows how he's working with his whistle and his dogs.
Archie sitting in the back of his ute with a dog under each arm

New study into growing crops under solar panels

Growing crops alongside solar farming is a new field for New Zealand, so researchers here have been analysing studies of these sorts of systems around the world. Dr Pieter-Willem Hendriks from the research team at Lincoln University spoke to Sally Round.
Sheep are used as a tool for managing the vegetation growing between the solar panels at Lodestone's Kohirā Solar Farm

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