This episode features Sudesh Kissun, Editor, Rural News & Dairy News discussing the biggest stories making headlines across the primary sector and what's inside the latest editions.

 

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

 

Apple:https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881

Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ

This episode features Sudesh Kissun, Editor, Rural News &amp; Dairy News discussing the biggest stories making headlines across the primary sector and what's inside the latest editions.
&nbsp;
WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command &lsquo;Play CountryWide Connect&rsquo; on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
&nbsp;
Apple: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881">https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881</a>
Google Play: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ</a>

CountryWide CONNECT is the latest innovative daily livestreamed rural video/radio show broadcast at lunchtime 11am – 1pm Monday-Friday from Christchurch, New Zealand.


The show is hosted by respected award-winning agribusiness broadcasters, Sarah Perriam-Lampp (formerly Sarah’s Country & Rural Exchange) and Andy Thompson (formerly The Rural Round-Up).


Over two hours, Sarah & Andy cover the latest in New Zealand rural news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!

For more information & to subscribe to CountryWide, visit www.country-wide.co.nz

CountryWide CONNECT is the latest innovative daily livestreamed rural video/radio show broadcast at lunchtime 11am &ndash; 1pm Monday-Friday from Christchurch, New Zealand.
 The show is hosted by respected award-winning agribusiness broadcasters, Sarah Perriam-Lampp (formerly Sarah&rsquo;s Country &amp; Rural Exchange) and Andy Thompson (formerly The Rural Round-Up).
 Over two hours, Sarah &amp; Andy cover the latest in New Zealand rural news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!
For more information &amp; to subscribe to CountryWide, visit www.country-wide.co.nz

CountryWide CONNECT

CountryWide CONNECT is an innovative daily livestreamed rural video/radio show broadcast at lunchtime 11am – 1pm Monday-Friday from Christchurch, New Zealand.


The show is hosted by respected award-winning agribusiness broadcasters, Sarah Perriam-Lampp (formerly Sarah’s Country & Rural Exchange) and Andy Thompson (formerly The Rural Round-Up).


Over two hours, Sarah & Andy cover the latest in New Zealand rural news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!

For more information & to subscribe to CountryWide, visit www.country-wide.co.nz

CountryWide CONNECT is an innovative daily livestreamed rural video/radio show broadcast at lunchtime 11am &ndash; 1pm Monday-Friday from Christchurch, New Zealand.
 The show is hosted by respected award-winning agribusiness broadcasters, Sarah Perriam-Lampp (formerly Sarah&rsquo;s Country &amp; Rural Exchange) and Andy Thompson (formerly The Rural Round-Up).
 Over two hours, Sarah &amp; Andy cover the latest in New Zealand rural news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!
For more information &amp; to subscribe to CountryWide, visit www.country-wide.co.nz

Sudesh Kissun - What’s making rural media headlines?

Government pilots AI tool to speed up biosecurity import standards


ACT promises to transfer game animal management from DOC to hunters


NZ shearers lose Wales test series by less than one point

 

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

 

Apple:https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881

Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ

 

Government pilots AI tool to speed up biosecurity import standards

The Government is piloting an artificial intelligence tool to modernise how import health standards are developed, with a four-month trial underway to test whether it can deliver faster, more consistent biosecurity assessments without cutting corners.

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says the current process for developing import health standards — the rules goods must meet before entering New Zealand — has not kept pace with modern trade and innovation.

The AI tool would take on document-heavy work while key decisions remain with Biosecurity New Zealand experts. Hoggard says the goal is to free up staff time and improve consistency, not reduce the quality of assessments.

For farmers and growers, the wider reform programme — including live plant import system reform — is expected to improve access to new plant genetics and reduce unnecessary restrictions on productivity.

 

ACT promises to transfer game animal management from DOC to hunters

ACT is promising to transfer responsibility for game animal management on conservation land from DOC to the Game Animal Council, with full funding — giving hunters formal authority over the animals and landscapes they already manage on the ground.

The policy, announced at the weekend’s Hunting and Wildlife Expo, also includes multi-year funding contracts for community groups maintaining backcountry huts, improved hunting access to public land and new protections against interference with lawful hunts including through drones and helicopters.

ACT conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton says DOC cannot manage New Zealand's conservation estate alone, pointing to more than two-thousand-three-hundred hut closure alerts since 2021 and a maintenance backlog community groups are already filling at a fraction of the cost.

Deputy leader Nicole McKee says hunters have spent generations managing game animals, controlling predators and clearing tracks — but Government still treats them as a problem rather than a conservation asset.

ACT would also open the Voluntary Nature Credits Market to accredited hunting groups, rewarding verified conservation outcomes.

 

NZ shearers lose Wales test series by less than one point

New Zealand shearers Jack Fagan and Hemi Braddick have gone down to Wales by just point-nine of a point in the deciding test at the Corwen Shears in North Wales, handing Wales a three-one series win on the Wools of New Zealand UK Tour.

Gethin Lewis claimed the day for Wales with the best time, shearing twenty lambs in eleven minutes fifty-three seconds — nine seconds ahead of Fagan. Braddick had the best quality work on the board, averaging less than one penalty per lamb, finishing just over half a point behind Lewis overall.

The result reverses the earlier series in New Zealand, where Fagan and Toa Henderson beat the same Welsh pairing three-nil across tests at Aria, Pukekohe and Taumarunui.

<ul>
<li>
Government pilots AI tool to speed up biosecurity import standards
</li>
<li>
ACT promises to transfer game animal management from DOC to hunters
</li>
<li>
NZ shearers lose Wales test series by less than one point
</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command &lsquo;Play CountryWide Connect&rsquo; on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
&nbsp;
Apple: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881">https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881</a>
Google Play: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ</a>
&nbsp;
Government pilots AI tool to speed up biosecurity import standards
The Government is piloting an artificial intelligence tool to modernise how import health standards are developed, with a four-month trial underway to test whether it can deliver faster, more consistent biosecurity assessments without cutting corners.
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says the current process for developing import health standards &mdash; the rules goods must meet before entering New Zealand &mdash; has not kept pace with modern trade and innovation.
The AI tool would take on document-heavy work while key decisions remain with Biosecurity New Zealand experts. Hoggard says the goal is to free up staff time and improve consistency, not reduce the quality of assessments.
For farmers and growers, the wider reform programme &mdash; including live plant import system reform &mdash; is expected to improve access to new plant genetics and reduce unnecessary restrictions on productivity.
&nbsp;
ACT promises to transfer game animal management from DOC to hunters
ACT is promising to transfer responsibility for game animal management on conservation land from DOC to the Game Animal Council, with full funding &mdash; giving hunters formal authority over the animals and landscapes they already manage on the ground.
The policy, announced at the weekend&rsquo;s Hunting and Wildlife Expo, also includes multi-year funding contracts for community groups maintaining backcountry huts, improved hunting access to public land and new protections against interference with lawful hunts including through drones and helicopters.
ACT conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton says DOC cannot manage New Zealand's conservation estate alone, pointing to more than two-thousand-three-hundred hut closure alerts since 2021 and a maintenance backlog community groups are already filling at a fraction of the cost.
Deputy leader Nicole McKee says hunters have spent generations managing game animals, controlling predators and clearing tracks &mdash; but Government still treats them as a problem rather than a conservation asset.
ACT would also open the Voluntary Nature Credits Market to accredited hunting groups, rewarding verified conservation outcomes.
&nbsp;
NZ shearers lose Wales test series by less than one point
New Zealand shearers Jack Fagan and Hemi Braddick have gone down to Wales by just point-nine of a point in the deciding test at the Corwen Shears in North Wales, handing Wales a three-one series win on the Wools of New Zealand UK Tour.
Gethin Lewis claimed the day for Wales with the best time, shearing twenty lambs in eleven minutes fifty-three seconds &mdash; nine seconds ahead of Fagan. Braddick had the best quality work on the board, averaging less than one penalty per lamb, finishing just over half a point behind Lewis overall.
The result reverses the earlier series in New Zealand, where Fagan and Toa Henderson beat the same Welsh pairing three-nil across tests at Aria, Pukekohe and Taumarunui.

27th July 2026 // Rural News

This episode features Yvette Westerman, Branch Manager & Brooke Garland, Rural Sales, Bayleys Taupo discussing the latest update on the Taupo rural property market.

 

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

 

Apple:https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881

Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ

This episode features Yvette Westerman, Branch Manager &amp; Brooke Garland, Rural Sales, Bayleys Taupo discussing the latest update on the Taupo rural property market.
&nbsp;
WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command &lsquo;Play CountryWide Connect&rsquo; on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
&nbsp;
Apple: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881">https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881</a>
Google Play: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ</a>

Yvette Westerman & Brooke Garland - Strong buyer demand in Taupō facing shortage of properties

This episode features Wendy Paul, CEO, Growing Future Farmers discussing the need for more on-farm trainers to help develop the next generation of sheep and beef farmers.

 

WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

 

Apple:https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881

Google Play:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ

This episode features Wendy Paul, CEO, Growing Future Farmers discussing the need for more on-farm trainers to help develop the next generation of sheep and beef farmers.
&nbsp;
WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command &lsquo;Play CountryWide Connect&rsquo; on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
&nbsp;
Apple: <a href="https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881">https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881</a>
Google Play: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&amp;hl=en_NZ</a>

Sudesh Kissun - What’s making rural media headlines?

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