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Country Life: Inside Aotearoa’s regenerative farming festival

Source: Radio New Zealand

Attendees sit in a circle and learn how to weave flax in one of the social forums. RNZ/Anisha Satya

Fieldays are one of the few events farmers will get off paddock for, but a new form of gathering aims to add more life to their work-life balance.

The Underground Festival, which took place on 18-19 February, is a multiday event which combines regenerative farming talks with glamping, music and “mean feeds”.

It’s the brainchild of Tokoroa-raised Fran Bailey, who got the idea after working at the Groundswell festival in the UK.

“It was at a time where there was, sort of, a lot of negativity around farming and climate change.

“I just thought, farmers care about the land and not enough people know about this, so I just, sort of, put a stake in the ground to help tell their stories.”

The welcome signage at the 2026 Underground Festival. RNZ/Anisha Satya

The social dining tent at the heart of the Underground Festival. RNZ/Anisha Satya

Bailey found herself working at Groundswell, which takes place annually at Lannock Farm in North Hertfordshire. She eventually brought the idea back home, running a pilot of the Underground Festival in 2025.

One year later, and the vineyard at Greystone Wines was covered in tents and teepees, with 400 farmers making the trip to Waipara with their families.

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On the education front, a number of guest speakers ran talks in the large gathering tents. Topics ranged from biochar to soil health, to moths and butterflies.

Mangaroa Farms kickstarter Jules Matthews spoke on inspiring other farmers to take up the regenerative torch.

“This community is always very embracing, and it’s such a safe environment,” she said.

She attended the test festival last year, and was thrilled by 2026’s crowd size.

“It seems like people are really engaged, and each one of the tents has a good turnout of people.”

Regenerative agriculture enthusiast Jules Matthews spoke on inspiring other farmers to try their hand at regenerative agriculture. RNZ/Anisha Satya

The event was as much a celebration of food as it is farming, according to chef Max Gordy. He came down from Wellington to join the Base Food by Fire team in serving up some kai.

Chef Max Gordy preps some locally grown fruit. RNZ/Anisha Satya

Gordy’s ‘eat local, waste less’ ethos aligned with the festival perfectly.

“I’m not going to use processed stuff,” he said. “If you don’t know where your food’s coming from, you’re doing it wrong.”

Slow-cooked beef, roasted zucchini, bread made with local flour – it was all there, and well appreciated by attendees.

“We’re cooking for a bunch of farmers that really appreciate the soil, so they’re probably the most chilliest clientele we could possibly have.”

Bailey hoped this year’s successful run would encourage a bigger turnout in 2027.

“I would just love to see it continue to grow in quite an organic way.”

  • Discover more about the Underground Festival here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Country Life: Lessons in permaculture at Kahikatea Farm

Source: Radio New Zealand

The young chicks provide an endless source of entertainment. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

On 16 acres in Poukawa, south of Hastings, once-bare paddocks have been transformed into a thriving interconnected place for growing.

Kahikatea Farm is a permaculture farm with an established food forest covering just over a hectare, as well as two hectares of silviculture and more recently what’s known as a paddock paradise horse track system.

At the heart of the farm though is the certified organic nursery growing more than 400 different types of permaculture plants.

“They all have at least one main function, and hopefully several other functions as well,” permaculture teacher and gardener Jo Duff explained.

“So they attract pollinating insects, they’re nitrogen fixing, medicinal herbs, they’re edible leaves, they’re perennial vegetables. Yeah, they’ve got to have a use. We don’t grow what we call roundabout plants.”

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Jo and her husband Aaron established Kahikatea Farm almost 20 years ago, taking its name from the Kahikatea Forest which would have stood at the site long ago, before it was converted to grazing farmland.

The Duff family had a vision of working with nature.

The little earthen cottage is a particularly cool place to spend the hot Hawke’s Bay summers. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

The food forest kitchen bar offers a place to enjoy the progress of the surrounding trees and plantings. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

They created swales – water harvesting ditches which follow the contour of the rolling hills – to plant the first fruit trees which now form the upper canopy of their established food forest.

Near the start of summer when the surrounding farmland is already golden brown, this part of the farm was an green oasis, layered with fruit-bearing plants.

They established their own permaculture garden to feed them and the many helpers on the farm, including volunteers and those keen to learn from Jo about permaculture principles – earth care, fair share, and people care.

“The vegetable garden supports our family and anybody else who’s staying here at the time,” Jo told Country Life.

Some plants vulnerable to the feathered helpers are stored on high. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

All the plants grown and sold in the nursery are classed as permaculture plants. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

The organic nursery was their main business. She said the certification process was relatively straight forward as they grew everything in a potting media that was bought in and pre-certified.

“The potting mix has got fertiliser to last it a good wee while. That’s based mostly on seaweed, compost, and then a trichoderma, which is a friendly micro-organism, which aids with root development and just the basic health of the plant.

“Most things are out the door before really we need to give them an extra feed, and if we do, that’s a seaweed fertiliser.”

Where the organic nursery really shined though was in its feathered friends who helped with pest management, targetting larger snails and slugs which threatened the plants.

The farm is home to a range of different chickens. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

Cayuga ducks Emile and Cordelia enjoy cooling off in their bathtub. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

They had three different groups of chooks – Rhode Island Reds, Black Orpingtons, and Bantams – and two different types of ducks – Indian Runner ducks and Cayugas – performing different functions in different parts of the farm.

Since introducing the birds, Jo said it had “completely changed” the nursery.

“Everyone who works here really loves having them around. It makes you slow down, because you just stop and watch what they’re doing or have a laugh at some antics, and every spring comes around and you go ‘oh my God, those ducklings are so cute’ and the novelty never wears off.

“We’re so busy in spring, it’s so nice to have that lovely distraction and yeah, it does make you slow down.”

Jo Duff is a passionate permaculture teacher and gardener. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

When Country Life paid a visit late last Spring, the gardens were filled with the sounds of new life. Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life

  • Find out more about Kahikatea Farm here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Country Life: Young Kiwi pilot helps map and fight Victoria’s devastating bushfires

Source: Radio New Zealand

Henry Phelps at the helm Supplied

Kiwi pilot Henry Phelps has gone from wilderness flying in New Zealand to helping combat Australia’s devastating bushfires.

Working with his brother to control the fires from the air has been an “amazing” experience, he told Country Life.

When not flying for Sounds Air, Phelps has been commuting to Melbourne for the past few months to pilot a small fixed-wing plane as part of an aerial surveillance team, helping to track the bushfires and relay information about their path.

A major heatwave across Australia’s southeast stoked the fatal fires this summer, forcing hundreds of rural residents to evacuate and burning more than 400,000 hectares in Victoria alone.

Phelps joined his brother Edward, already working in Melbourne as a helicopter pilot, for the bushfire season in September last year.

Henry Phelps with his brother Edward. They can sometimes be flying on the same mission mapping bushfires, Ed in a chopper and Henry piloting a fixed wing Supplied

The brothers piloted their craft over the fires while an operator in the rear took images using specialised photographic equipment “gathering real time intelligence and sending that to the ground crews in terms of mapping the fires and getting a good grasp of the size of them, the hot spots and where best to attack from the ground”, Phelps said.

In Victoria the fires have laid waste to swathes of farmland, killing 45,000 farm animals at last count. Two farmers were killed in Western Australia trying to fight the fires there.

“Because we’re at such a high altitude, it’s really hard to get a proper grasp of the sheer scale of it.

“But as soon as that fire grows, you can see the smoke obviously lifting up into the atmosphere, and the smoke spreading, you know, for miles, hundreds and hundreds of kilometres.”

The 26-year-old, who has been flying a Pilatus PC-12 – a single-engined turboprop – in the fire zones, says it has been a rewarding job knowing the data he helped collect, assisted people on the ground.

“It’s pretty incredible to see the maps come to life, especially once you’ve flown the routes.

“This fire may, because of the westerly, may be moving more so to the east and so you see the outlines grow and for us as fire scanners to see it in real time, then you know, once you’ve finished and see it on the emergency app, it gives you a pretty rewarding sense of this is actually pretty, pretty cool.”

ABC News / Port Fairy Urban Fire Brigade

At times, he was aerial scanning the same fire as his brother, who has also been doing aerial intelligence work but at a much lower altitude.

“There was one specific time where we were both on the same fire in the middle of Victoria, and it was just us two on it and talking together and that was pretty special for me.”

Phelps started his commercial pilot career flying tourists over Fiordland, and he said he was used to “tricky” flying.

“The weather changes in a split second, so that is definitely a big part of the challenge, and also with the high terrain, just being very aware of having exit strategies and knowing what you can and can’t do and knowing what the aircraft capability is as well.”

One of Henry Phelps first flying roles was flying tourists to Milford Sound Supplied

The son of cropping farmers, he got interested in flying when helicopters came to spray the crops.

“I spent a lot of time in those Hughes 500s as a kid, and I just really loved it.”

  • Learn more about aerial fire mapping technology used in Australia here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Acid rain falls on Vanuatu islands as volcano belches ash

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Manaro Voui volcano is spewing ash and smoke as high as four kilometres above sea level. The alert level remains at three on a scale of five and a 3km danger zone has been declared around the crater. 24 February 2026 Supplied/Sergei Kriukov – Unity Airlines

The Vanuatu government has decided not to order a mass evacuation of communities on Ambae island affected by acid rain from the Manaro Voui volcano.

On Friday the Council of Ministers (cabinet) endorsed the recommendations of the National Disaster Committee for a plan of action.

This included approving a budget of 20 million vatu (US$170,000) for a team from the National Disaster Management Office to go to Ambae on Saturday.

Once there they will assess the most affected parts of the island and have them declared disaster zones.

Climate change minister Ralph Regenvanu said there is no mandatory evacuation at this stage but people in the worst affected areas are encouraged to move to less affected parts of the island if they do not feel safe.

“Even though on Ambae we are hearing the activity of the volcano is changing, sometimes it is increasing and sometimes it is going down, it is still only at alert level three,” Regenvanu said speaking in Bislama.

Regenvanu said plans are in place should the volcanic activity increase even further.

“The council has also approved that if we go to alert level four, which is the worst case scenario, and will require the whole island to be declared a disaster zone and for us to start evacuations, an emergency plan is already in place.”

Acid rain impacts

Acid rain from the volcano on Ambae – 310km north west of the capital of Port Vila – is reportedly effecting water and food supplies.

Authorities say the volcano is spewing toxic burning ash which is now covering the entire island due to wind changes.

The Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazard department (VMGD) says acid rain has now reached Santo, Malakula, Pentecost and Ambrym islands.

Its director, Levu Antfalo described its effects.

“It burns, right because it contains sulphuric oxide, it rains down and becomes acid rain. It burns their crops, pretty much anything that it gets in contact with, water as well. Usually those who use wells, drums, tanks that are not covered could be affected, but bore hold water seems to be okay,” he said.

Antfalo said the heavy ash fall also alters the PH levels in water, making it more acidic.

“I mean it burns their protein source, like vegetables.. We were told as well it increases the PH of water as well as prawns and fish that are there (in rivers).”

Vanuatu’s cabinet is convening an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the escalating situation on Ambae Island following increased volcanic activity at the Manaro volcano. Facebook / Ministry of the Prime Minister – Vanuatu

Edwin Tarai and his family were evacuated after Ambae erupted in 2018, and have never returned.

The 74-year-old, who lives in Santo, said people on Ambae were complaining about government inaction.

“There is no plan of moving out at the moment but there is a concern. People are complaining and wondering what is the government’s next move,” Tarai said.

The former nurse practitioner said that the noise is increasing and can be heard in east Santo, Pentecost and Ambrym islands.

Nixon Garae, a tug boat captain in Luganville, Santo has relatives in East Ambae, who described the noise.

“They said the noise is very loud because when people are talking you can’t hear the other person talking. It is causing ear pain because it’s very loud and heavy,” he said.

“Last Saturday when they were in church, when the preacher stood up at the front, they could hardly hear him because the noise was too loud.”

Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department

Active shield volcano

A volcano duty officer with New Zealand’s GNS Science, Yannick Behr said Ambae is a typical shield volcano and a very active one at that.

“It’s part of a chain of volcanoes in Vanuatu, they’re sitting on a rifting zone that is caused by the eastward subduction of the Australian plate. That tectonic process keeps that volcanism alive so all volcanoes on this rifting zone, they erupt quite regularly,” Beer said.

The latest plumes are about four kilometres above sea level, he said.

“It can twice as high, but again these are explosive eruptions but because of the consistency of the magma they tend to be not quite as catastrophic as you can see them (sic) from other types of volcanoes,” Beer said.

The geohazards department has issued a reminder to Ambae residents to stay out of the danger zone.

This comes after an aviation warning was issued on Thursday for volcanic ash cover over the island.

In a public address overnight director Levu Antfalo warned residents to take precautions.

“Just a reminder that the danger zone is a three kilometres radius around the crater. So do not go close to it,” Antfalo said.

“Things to take care of include water, protect your water supply. It will also affect food gardens. And also those with respiratory illnesses…this can affect the health of families that live close to or in the surrounding areas of Ambae,” he said.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Football: Phoenix draw 1-1 with Adelaide

Source: Radio New Zealand

Manjrekar James, goalscorer for the Wellington Phoenix, in the team’s 1-1 draw with Adelaide United, on March 6th 2026. www.photosport.nz

Interim Wellington Phoenix coach Chris Greenacre is praising his players for grinding out a 1-1 draw with Adelaide in their latest A-League match.

The match was the second in charge for Greenacre, and the team’s first competition point since he took over from Giancarlo Italiano, but they remain second-to-last on the table, just one point above current cellar-dwellers Western Sydney Wanderers.

Manjrekar James scored the Phoenix’s goal after getting the last touch on a set piece 10 minutes out from halftime, before Adelaide equalised 10 minutes into the second half.

A solid defensive effort then followed from the Phoenix. claiming just their sixth draw in 28 visits to South Australia.

“My players, they were like warriors tonight,” said Greenacre.

“They dug in right to the death. Full credit to Adelaide. They’re a good team. One of the form teams, they play a lovely brand of football [and] we always knew it was going to be difficult.

“We had a couple of opportunities late in the game, could have maybe turned things differently… it wasn’t to be, but it’s a point in the right direction for us.”

Greenacre made one enforced change to his starting lineup from the side that lost to Sydney FC, with Ifeanyi Eze returning from suspension in place of Alex Rufer, who himself served a one-match suspension.

The Phoenix took the lead in the 35th minute when Piper headed a pinpoint free kick, off James, and into the back of the net.

Luka Jovanovic was Adelaide’s goal scorer, blasting into the roof of the net, after cutting inside James and beating keeper Josh Oluwayemi.

The Wellington Phoenix will make the long trip home today, before turning their attention to next Saturday’s match at home, against Perth Glory.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Amanda Seyfried’s ‘prosthetic butthole’ isn’t a joke

Source: Radio New Zealand

In The Testament of Ann Lee, a musical drama about the Shaker sect, Amanda Seyfried wears what she calls a “prosthetic butthole” as she is stripped and beaten in front of a burning church.

“This movie needed to be graphic, so I wore a prosthetic butthole. […] It was cool. It was exciting. I was pregnant and naked, but I wasn’t naked at all. And at the end of the movie, I was standing in front of a burning building with just a merkin. I felt so free”, she told BBC Radio 2:

On the surface, Seyfried’s comments might seem like a case of TMI. But costume performs an important, invisible technical function of a quasi-body the actor inhabits to transform into their character.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

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The Oscars are coming up and it’s anyone’s game

Source: Radio New Zealand

With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it’s difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game.

The Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA and Actor (formerly SAG) Awards are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and while some elements have come into sharper focus – it’s Hamnet star Jessie Buckley’s best actress Oscar to lose, for instance – many other aspects of the race remain foggy to predict at best, like who might walk away with the best actor trophy opposite her.

And that’s not to mention the seemingly wide-open fields in both supporting actor races.

Irish actress Jessie Buckley accepts the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture for Hamnet.

VALERIE MACON

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Pene Pati watched himself in new doco: ‘God, this kid is stubborn’

Source: Radio New Zealand

Brothers Pene Pati and Amitai Pati are members of the much-loved operatic trio Sol3 Mio and world-class tenors.

A new documentary Tenor: My Name Is Pati charts their individual paths from South Auckland church halls to the international stage – and the tenacity required for the journey.

“I was watching this film, going, ‘God, this kid is stubborn’. And then I realised, was he stubborn or did he just constantly believe?” Pene tells RNZ’s Afternoons.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

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Former Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby reflects on the brutal reality of elite coaching

Source: Radio New Zealand

Janine Southby was Silver Ferns coach for three years. Photosport

Only those who have sat in the top job can truly understand the pressure that comes with leading a national side, says former Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby

Southby was this week named head coach of the Southern Blast, the Southern Steel’s feeder team in the ANZ Premiership – her highest profile coaching job since resigning as Silver Ferns head coach in July 2018.

Her departure came after a disastrous Commonwealth Games campaign in which New Zealand failed to win a medal for the first time – a result that saw Southby face relentless public criticism.

Upon the team’s return, Netball NZ launched an independent review of the Gold Coast campaign.

The findings were brutal, leading Southby to step down.

Southby said after the highly public ordeal she needed to take some time away from the sport.

“I needed some time out, I think anyone who goes through a process that’s really challenging you need to just have a break,” Southby said.

She later made a quiet return to coaching at a local level.

“I continued coaching around Dunedin post that and have been coaching club teams, I’ve done a bit of school stuff, I’ve been coaching the opens team for the Dunedin Netball Centre. So I’ve stayed involved but probably a lot of people won’t be aware of that.”

The past year has highlighted just how intense the scrutiny on top coaches in New Zealand can be.

Scott Robertson lost the All Blacks job in January. SANKA VIDANAGAMA

Last year, Dame Noeline Taurua, who replaced Southby in 2018, was stood down for nearly two months after player complaints prompted an independent review into the team environment.

Taurua was reinstated in October after a bruising affair that dominated headlines for weeks.

In January, Scott Robertson was axed as All Blacks coach following a “scathing” end of season review, which included player feedback.

“It’s only other coaches who have been through something that’s pretty challenging, who get it,” Southby said.

“It’s a hugely pressure cooker environment but you go into it knowing that and high performance sport is brutal and pretty cut-throat and there’s always a saying ‘you’re doing well if they don’t talk about you’ and it’s a tough environment.”

Does she think player power is playing too big a part in coaching careers?

“I can’t speak for what’s been happening in the last wee while but I think it’s important everyone has a voice and high performance is a real brutal environment and you want to have the balance of having the input but you’ve also got to have the balance of people knowing their roles and being able to do their jobs to their full capacity.”

Current Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua. Marty Melville / PHOTOSPORT

The former Otago Rebels player coached the Southern Steel for four years from 2012, before taking the helm of the side in 2015.

Southby would not rule out coaching an ANZ Premiership side again one day but said she was excited about working with players in the space between high school and the top domestic league.

“At this stage I’m just keeping it local, I live a pretty busy life, my husband and I have a couple of businesses, I’m teaching so we keep ourselves busy and I just felt passionate about the opportunity to help Netball South and young players in our zone have the opportunity and chance and that’s where my focus is right at the moment.”

Filling the gap

The 2026 National Netball league (NNL) is a watered down version of what it was in its first year in 2016 when it was known as the Beko Netball League.

The league was introduced in 2016 to provide the next tier of players below ANZ Premiership level further development opportunities.

But since that inaugural season, when the competition ran over 12 weekends and teams played a double round-robin, the league has been reduced to one round robin.

The Netball South Zone initially made the decision to not field a team in the 2026 NNL season, given the costs involved to support a team, while also seeing the number of games decrease.

They later backtracked after concerns were raised by the netball community about the impact it would have on development pathways.

Southby said it was important to maintain a feeder league.

“There’s a big step up from playing either secondary school or club to going into the franchise teams and there was a lot of push back from the centres around the decision when it happened last year and thankfully Netball South changed their mind and decided yes they also believe it’s important.

“There’s a lot of challenges in this space for the financial side of things and just the uncertainty of what was actually happening.”

Janine Southby coach the Southern Steel for four year’s from 2012. Anthony Au-Yeung

Southby, who coached the New Zealand under 21 side to gold at the 2013 World Youth Cup in Glasgow, said players would fall through the cracks without the NNL.

“There’s a lot of players out there that are hungry to get to the next level and we need to keep providing them opportunities. They are quite well catered for through the secondary school system, with representative netball and secondary school tournaments etc. but once they leave school there’s quite a big gap.

“Not all school levers are going to go straight into a franchise team so somewhere there needs to be a programme that caters for these players and gives them opportunities to be seen to experience what it is and the work that they have to do to get up to the next level.”

Southby, who was only appointed last week, is still to hold trials. “It feels a little bit like we’re behind everything but we’re working through a few challenges and we’ll get a programme in place and get these girls ready to go.”

Southby coached her two daughters through high school and it’s no surprise they are very promising netballers.

Ella Southby went to the Youth World Cup for New Zealand last year and is a training partner this year for the Southern Steel. Older sister Grace has also played NNL netball and previously been a training partner for the Steel.

Southby said travelling to Gibraltar last year to watch Ella play was an amazing experience.

“It’s always nerve wracking but you also have that real sense of pride and we were hugely proud of Ella because she had come back from having an ACL the previous year.”

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Luxon says Cabinet colleagues back him, won’t stand down as National’s leader

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (L) flanked by his Cabinet colleagues. RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson

The Prime Minister has told Newstalk ZB none of his Cabinet colleagues have told him to reconsider his future, saying “all of them” back him.

Christopher Luxon’s comments came after speculation about his leadership following a Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll had National on 28.4 – down nearly 3 points from its poll last month.

Labour was up at 34.4, while the Greens, ACT, and Te Pati Māori were all up on 10.5, 7.5, and 3.2 respectively.

New Zealand First had taken a slight drop to 9.7.

Those results would give the centre-Left bloc 61 seats, enough to govern, while the coalition government bloc would fall short on 59 seats.

Luxon told Newstalk ZB he was ‘absolutely not’ considering standing down and said he had the skills to lead the National Party and the country.

“The only thing I am considering is the future of our children and grandchildren.”

He said the only polling he took note of was National’s own internal polling, which was processed in the United Kingdom.

“I would reassure you – if there was a problem, I would be doing something about it. But we are long way away from what we’ve seen published in a TPU poll today.”

Luxon said he has “not thought about” what polling level would be the threshold for him to step down as prime minister.

“I have the full support of my team and my caucus.”

The poll came at the end of a week where Luxon struggled to communicate clearly on the Iran conflict.

Speaking on NewstalkZB, he acknowledged failings with his personal communication: “I’ve freely admitted, I’m not a career politician. I’m not always going to have the perfect most tidy soundbite like someone who’s been there 20 years would do.”

Luxon said the media had gotten carried away in its reaction to the public poll over the course of the day.

“The whole world seems to have got very exercised … the reason I’m going on your show is to clarify to people, no, I’m not doing that [considering my future].”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand