Fonterra says it will lay off hundreds of its 1500 head office staff in a major review following the decline in dairy prices.

AgriHQ forecasts increased milk production and a higher forecast payout to dairy farmers will bolster the economy.

MPI forecasts revenue from primary industries will drop to $35.2 billion in the year to June.

Two Auckland men met about two years ago and in that short time they have discovered they have the same passion - cleaning up waterways.

The sale of Lochinver station to Chinese interests spearheaded by Shanghai Pengxin reignited concerns about farm sales to foreigners during the election campaign.

Two successive years of low milk prices will increase pressure on the asset quality of New Zealand banks, says ratings agency Fitch.

Murray McCully's controversial $10m deal bypassed the normal Govt control channels, writes Fran O'Sullivan. "The deal is now being challenged as an outright bribe."

The next eight months will be lean for dairy farmers but Rabobank NZ chief Ben Russell says he is confident the downturn will be cyclical and one most farmers can cope with.

Trust set-up raises issue of whether farmer shareholder and external investor interests in Fonterra are fully aligned.

ANZ breached the Fair Trading Act for misleadingly representing interest rate swaps to some customers.

Fonterra's cut its payout forecast by 10c to $4.40 a kilo of milk solids and says it expects to pay out $5.25 a kilo for next season.

There's been another fall in world dairy prices, with the GDT index down to its lowest level since August 2009.

Farm prices have continued to rise, despite the near halving of milk prices over the past year, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data.

Farmers don't expect special treatment from this year's Budget, but some recognition of the impact that the drought has had on farm finances would be a welcome move.

Farm prices have continued to rise, despite the near halving of milk prices over the last year, according to REINZ.

Fonterra's strategy has to start delivering or its market share will shrink further, says Federated Farmers Otago dairy chairman Stephen Crawford.

The old joke that there's nothing in New Zealand but sheep may have run its course, as stock numbers hit lows not seen since during the Second World War.

The Reserve Bank has singled out the New Zealand dairy sector as an "area of risk" for the financial system.

Fonterra will late this month release its milk price forecast for 2015/16 and indications are that it will be towards the lower end of market expectations.

International dairy prices fell for the fourth time in a row at this morning's GlobalDairyTrade auction.

ANZ New Zealand boss David Hisco says the country's biggest bank is working closely with rural customers as falling dairy prices begin to bite, but farmers are better placed to deal with the....

New Zealand commodity prices had their biggest decline since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, led by falling dairy product prices.

Drought conditions are biting into California's dairy production, which could end up being supportive for international dairy prices, say analysts.

Calfsmart is the brainchild of Ben Neal, a 35-year-old mechanical engineer who grew up on a dairy farm in Dannevirke.

A Waikato farm development company - Dairy Solutionz - will open a 117ha, 300-cow demonstration dairy in the Narino region of south Colombia tomorrow.

Dairy farm bank balances will be heading into the red this winter and spring, producing some short-term but significant cashflow management challenges.