Federated Farmers Podcast
The Federated Farmers Podcast is your weekly guide to the issues affecting rural New Zealand. Join us as we unpack the policies, challenges and big ideas shaping life on farm. With frank conversations from farmers, advocates and experts, we break down what matters and why, so you can stay informed, prepared and heard.
Hosted by Ben Chapman-Smith, Federated Farmers' communications manager, who grew up on a sheep and beef farm in Te Akau on Waikato's west coast.
Federated Farmers Podcast
Latest Episodes
Five tips for new contract milkers | EP 87
Manawatū contract milker Riley O’Neill shares his top tips for people going contract milking for the first time in the coming season, or for existing contract milkers moving farms. Riley also discusses his own progression through th...
Meet the farmer: Shanice Young’s rise from city kid to rural leader | EP 86
Shanice Young didn’t grow up in farming, but she’s right in the mix now. From Wellington city kid to Bay of Plenty dairy farmer, Shanice shares how she found her way into farming and ended up leading her local Young Farmers Club, growing it rap...
When farmers became heroes — the liberation of Le Quesnoy | EP 85
To mark Anzac Weekend 2026, we’re bringing you a special episode that reaches back into one of New Zealand’s most remarkable wartime stories.In November 1918, during the final days of World War I, New Zealand soldiers achieved the extrao...
Meet the farmer: Ian Strahan | EP 84
In this episode, we sit down with Manawatū farmer Ian Strahan, who runs 440 hectares of rolling country at Kiwitea, finishing around 16,000 lambs and up to 1000 cattle each year.Ian, Manawatū–Rangitīkei Federated Farmers president, talks...
Five investment moves for your Fonterra windfall | EP 83
When you get an unexpected windfall as a farmer, what should you actually do with it? Is it just another payout to roll back into the farm, or a rare opportunity to reset your financial position?With many Fonterra farmers waking up this ...