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 30 January 2026

Country Life is back for 2026 with a classic tale of the bush, bullocks and camp ovens at an old woolshed in King Country. The team check in on a forest growing wood into products for Ikea and find out how farmers can make the most of the demand from international tourists for a taste of life on the farm.
New episode
A set of bullock horns and other memorabilia on the walls of a woolshed museum

Camp ovens, bullockies and other tales from the bush

Old-timer Lew Pickens' passions hark back to his days clearing land in Northland - camp oven cooking and driving bullock teams. He has a woolshed full of early tools and farming machines on the farm now run by son Craig. He is keenly aware that his stories, culture, traditions and old ways will be lost when he, and a few like him, are gone.
The Pickens family gathered in the woolshed, with Lew seated.

Ikea owner's first New Zealand forest: 'Timber production first and foremost'

Ingka Investments, the parent company of furniture giant Ikea, now owns 30,000 hectares of forestry in Aotearoa. It's first purchase saw the conversion of Wisp Hill Station in southern Otago from farmland to timber production forestry.
Wisp Hill Station in southern Otago was Ingka Investment's purchase in New Zealand, with the parent company of Swedish furniture giant Ikea, converting the farm to forestry.

Growing demand for on-farm fun from international tourists

Agritourism NZ's Marijke Dunselman outlines how farmers and growers can take advantage of growing global demand for authentic experiences on the farm.
Marijke Dunselman sitting in a paddock

On the Farm for 30 January 2025

A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country.
A slip on State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge.

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