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.

After a lifetime of working to clear land, Chris Bolderston is rewilding parts of his sheep and beef farm in North Canterbury. This story was first broadcast in September 2024.

Showing off bugs under torchlight is just one of Jack Karetai-Barret's extra curricular activities. The 15-year-old takes Country Life on a night walk through the bush on the trail of wildlife, showing what it's like to be a volunteer on Whakatāne's kiwi conservation project.

A wrap of conditions on farms and orchards around the country

A garage in Te Horo is buzzing as backyard builders make traps for a predator-free zone from the beach to the hills.

This week on Country Life, Kiwi and Aussie dairy farmers gather in Leeston to explore regenerative, low-input farming methods aimed at improving sustainability and profitability, and a look at the ancient skill of using a scythe with a Coromandel woman who's encouraging others to take up the sharp-bladed tools.

More than 70 farmers, researchers and advisors from New Zealand and Australia gathered in Leeston, to share lessons on low-input, regenerative dairy practices - swapping science, stories and solutions for farming's future.

Beth Pearsall wants to revive the ancient skill of scything. She loves swishing the sharp-bladed tool through her own garden and holds workshops to teach others about the scythe and its uses.

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney and brewers at Young Henrys are using algae to remove carbon dioxide from the brewing process, which can then be fed to livestock to help cut down methane emissions.

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

This week Country Life learns more about a dairy alternative made from barley and how farm life influences a Waitaki illustrator's work. The team also revisits a Cambridge farming family using regenerative agriculture to finish sheep and cattle they process for their butchery, Wholly Cow.

The Andrews family has gone from selling farm-raised meats at the Cambridge Farmers' Market to running their own butchery, adding a micro-abattoir, tannery and tallow production to complete the whole.

Emma Nowell transforms life on the land into art, children's stories and games, while keeping the farm and family at the heart of it all.

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

A new barley, bred for high fibre and low waste, is being turned into milk and yoghurt - a sustainable alternative with benefits for farmers and big potential in the global dairy-free market.