Country Life

This week Country Life meets a couple who've had a lifetime on the same farm, and some newcomers to the truffle industry, and the team also talk fitness with a farming-focused physiotherapist.

Indie has just finished her first harvest as a truffle hunter, showing outstanding skills for a pup. Her owners have just finished their first harvest too and are relishing life on the land after years searching for a place to call home.

Farmer Ian Buckingham was born at Lansdown Farm at Hook near Waimate 85 years ago and he's never left.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

Constant wet weather on hilly Te Tai Rāwhiti farms has led to an uptick in injuries among farmers there. Our guest this week, physiotherapist-cum-farmer Storm Baynes-Ryan, gives in-paddock advice to help them recover, stay strong and keep fit.

This week Country Life delves into the world of the harakeke plant and its many uses - from fashion to paper - and finds out about skincare products made from wool.

Whanganui couple Marilyn and Marty Vreede have been making paper from leftover harakeke from the district's many weavers. Between processing the strong fibre and making sheets of paper, they also help revitalise te reo Māori.

Huhana Smith grows olives, fruit and harakeke on six hectares of land at Kuku north of Wellington. It's a productive testing ground for growing healthy food and, potentially, a sustainable fashion industry.

A round-up of the week's news from the primary sector.

Southland sheep farmer Megan Seator is unravelling new uses for Romney's strong wool in a range of skincare products.

This week Country Life bids farewell to long-time producer Cosmo Kentish-Barnes who shares some of the magic moments he's had covering the South Island beat over nearly two decades. The team's also in the calving shed, and meeting a young entrepreneur who stumbled on shoelaces as a way of helping lift the profile of wool.

After 17 years Country Life's South Island producer is signing off from RNZ. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes' farewell feature is a rich tapestry of voices and stories, woven from some of the 600 recordings he's captured, edited and shared with listeners over the years.

It's all go in the calving shed, but with tech doing the heavy lifting, dairy farmer Dan Schat has time for a yarn about the cold, the costs, and the season so far.

Meet Jacob Smith, the 21-year-old turning wool and veggie scraps into fashion-forward biodegradable shoelaces. It started as a university project and has turned into a commercial venture sourcing wool directly from New Zealand farmers and using vegetable-based dyes. With strong wool struggling to find a market, his mission is to add real value to the product.

This week Country Life is on a nighttime nature walk in the Bay of Plenty alongside a young conservationist with a passion for bugs, meets Te Horo's backyard builders on a fledgling trapping project and revisits a North Canterbury farm where native trees are making a comeback, all in celebration of Conservation Week.