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ABOUT COUNTRYWIDE CONNECT

CountryWide CONNECT is a daily rural video and audio livestreamed show broadcast from 11am – 1pm Monday-Friday 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 news, views, politics but most importantly in-depth technical farming advice to help improve farmers bottom lines!

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FULL SHOW - 28th July 2026

We kick the show off with Associate Minister of Agriculture Mike Butterick, discussing RMA reform around gravel extraction and what the proposed changes could mean for farmers and rural communities.

Sarah ...Salmond, Partner at MinterEllisonRuddWatts, discusses US lamb tariffs and whether New Zealand needs to rethink its wider trade strategy.

Large animal veterinarian Rory Dean from Kaipara Farm Vets discusses calf rearing and the use of activated charcoal when treating calves with diarrhoea.

Green Party Agriculture spokesperson Steve Abel responds to the Government's proposed RMA changes and what they could mean for farmers and rural communities.

Australian rural commentator Libby Price discusses the controversy surrounding Heinz being caught selling Chinese-grown tomatoes as Australian and the implications for consumer trust and food labelling.

Anne Lee joins us for the DAIRY Country Panel, discussing DIRA and the implications for New Zealand's dairy industry.

And we wrap the show with Tony Trewinnard from Blue Skies Weather, bringing us the latest situation update and what farmers can expect from the weather in the days ahead.Show More

FULL SHOW - 28th July 2026

FULL SHOW - 27th July 2026

27th July 2026 // Rural News

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.Show More

Andy Mcfarlane - ‘Our greatest danger is complacency’: New face on AgriZeroNZ board

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

Wendy Paul - New intake of next gen sheep and beef seeking farm trainers

Phil Journeaux - Dairy season starting strong but margins tightening

Brad Siebert - Ingredients all there for good avocado season

Leo Pekar - Tracking cow bite behaviour for real-time pasture management

Heather Sorensen - Rural Women looking ahead to next 100 years

FULL SHOW - 24th July 2026

24th July 2026 // Rural News

India and New Zealand to establish kiwifruit centres
Live ammunition found in wool prompts safety warning
Animal and Plant Health Sector Recognises Long-Standing Contributors

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

India and New Zealand to establish kiwifruit centres

New Zealand and India are working together to establish four kiwifruit centres of excellence
across India, aimed at improving productivity for local growers under the countries’ free trade
agreement.

Dr Stephanie Montgomery, programme manager for New Zealand’s Bioeconomy Science
Institute, is leading the Green kiwifruit project, with the first centre planned for Nagaland in
north-east India.

The project will focus on knowledge transfer, orchard production and supply chain capability,
rather than sharing commercially protected varieties.

Montgomery says Indian growers have been welcoming and keen to improve production, but
the project faces challenges including steep, high-altitude orchards, limited soil data and
poor roading.

Zespri says the FTA also provides greater certainty to grow demand in India, with kiwifruit
receiving zero tariffs on an initial 6200-tonne quota.

Live ammunition found in wool prompts safety warning

The discovery of live rifle ammunition and a shotgun cartridge at a Hawke’s Bay wool
processing plant is prompting an urgent safety warning across the wool industry.

Eight live rounds were found in May at Woolworks’ Awatoto factory, after wool from multiple
North Island farms had been combined. The source farm cannot be identified.

Chief executive Rosstan Mazey says the rounds were found in a tray beneath the wool
opening equipment, creating a serious health and safety risk for workers.

He says farmers, shearers and wool classers need to be more vigilant inside woolsheds,
particularly around duck shooting season when spent cartridges and live ammunition may be
present.

The National Council of NZ Wool Interests and New Zealand Wool Classers Association are
urging everyone in the supply chain to ensure only wool goes into bales.

Animal and Plant Health Sector Recognises Long-Standing Contributors

Two individuals with decades of service to New Zealand's animal and plant health sector
have been recognised at the annual APHANZ Awards dinner in Wellington.

Gavin Kerr received the Outstanding Contribution Award for five years as APHANZ chair,
during which he oversaw the merger of two legacy industry associations into APHANZ and
established the Emerging Leaders Forum.

The President's Award went to Awilda Baoumgren, Specialist Adviser Veterinary Medicine
Regulation at MPI's ACVM team, recognised for more than a decade of pragmatic,
evidence-based regulatory advice that has strengthened the working relationship between
industry and government.

Acting APHANZ board chair Fraser Hodgson says Awilda exemplifies the consistent,
approachable leadership that underpins good regulatory practice — and ultimately supports
better outcomes for New Zealand farmers and animal owners.

APHANZ chief executive Liz Shackleton says the awards highlight the people who deliver
progress through expertise, pragmatism and collaboration across the sector.Show More

TODAY'S SHOW SCHEDULE

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FULL SHOW - 28th July 2026